Thicker Than Water
by webcomix
Summary: Maddie's perfectly and almost boringly normal life is shaken up the moment she meets some guy who happens to have the exact same face as she. Part of a genflip AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Whoo, I'm beginning another story! For those who haven't read my other fics: no worries - I don't think this really requires any prior knowledge of the series. For those who have: this is set in the academic year before **_**World Wide Story**_**.**

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.**

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><p>It all began with the sound of a bell. A keening, high-pitched sound that still managed to make itself heard over the tumultuous fury of chairs being scraped, books being slammed, bags being zipped and multiple classrooms of students bursting into speech.<p>

Fourteen year old Madeleine Williams did not stir. Even when her classmates began to trickle away, forming little clumps of friends excited to begin their weekend, she only shut her notebook quietly and shoved her pen into the spirals. Her phone gave out a buzz.

_are u going 2 the meeting?_

Maddie replied the text quickly.

_Yea, i guess_

Flipping her phone closed, she sighed and gathered her things. There was no way of avoiding it now she had promised her attendance.

As Maddie squeezed into the awkward, halting flow of students in the hallway, she mulled over her first week of high school.

In spite of all the dramatic, threatening stories she'd heard as she had grown older, high school wasn't as troublesome as a lot of people made it out to be. Of course, older students tended to act smug around the new kids, but it wasn't as if there was a strict teenage hierarchy. Of course, people formed their own groups of friends, but the 'cliques' were never openly hostile towards one another. And of course, there were still some people who were petty, arrogant, obnoxious, or just downright mean...but she merely did what she'd always done. Stay quiet and mind your own business. However, that didn't lessen any of the nervousness that had cropped up through the past few days…once again, older students tended to act _very_ smug towards newbies, with freshmen being a particular favourite.

"Oh. There you are."

Maddie almost jumped at the statement. One of the members of the throng had fallen into step with her: Wang Ho Kam, or HK as he preferred to be called. He was pocketing his cell phone, and Maddie realized that she'd ignored yet another text.

"Oh…sorry…"

"Eh, it's fine." He stuck his hands in his pockets and balefully stared ahead of him as they continued walking. They'd become good friends the year before, when both had been brand new to the city and their old middle school. Since everyone else had known each other already, it was easy for the new kids to gravitate towards each other. Maddie didn't really think that anything would have really changed if it hadn't been that way – HK, even if you couldn't really pick up on what he was thinking, was very smart and sometimes even could be hilarious.

"I wonder how they picked us. Did they take the class list and choose at random?"

He shrugged and let out a breath that made his long bangs flutter. "Who knows. Maybe Yao said something."

HK's older brother was a member of the National Honour Society. Maddie realized that this meant that there would be several upperclassmen present. Well, that made a lot of sense, since it was an invitation to the NHS mentorship program. Apparently it was a new deal, and they had been the lucky random freshmen participants to buddy up with someone older to...to tell them that Hetalia High was a fine and dandy place and if they had any problems, don't be afraid to ask for assistance!

HK had been a little insulted, insisting that having moved so many times around the world, he certainly could handle entering another school. Maddie didn't tell him just how relieved she had been. It always took people a while to notice her, so maybe being introduced to someone who'd already been around the block would speed things up.

As they walked into the classroom, she recognized many of those seated as fellow ninth graders. Standing in clumps at the front were the tall, confident juniors and seniors chatting and joking with each other. Yao waved at HK, who ignored him.

The teacher in charge, Mrs. Wilson, clapped her hands for order.

"Welcome to the NHS mentorship program," she told them brightly. "It's a very exciting day for all of us since this is the first of any such program done at Hetalia High!"

She went on to explain everything that had already been covered in the invitation. Maddie was beginning to agree with HK when the teacher finally finished her little speech.

"Now," She smiled over her clipboard. "I'll read off the assigned partners! Then we'll just spend the rest of this time chatting, getting to know each other and exchanging contact numbers. Don't be shy! We're all here to help you through your first year as smoothly as we can."

Maddie could feel HK rolling his eyes as Mrs. Wilson examined the first pairing on her list.

"Starting with Francis Bonnefoy and…hmm, I don't think she's here today."

"Who is it?" A very handsome boy leaned over to read the name. "Madeleine Williams?"

"Oh!" Maddie quickly raised a hand. "Present…"

Francis beamed and strolled over to greet her. It occurred to Maddie that the older students definitely looked way, way older. He gallantly lifted her hand and to her shock, kissed it.

"Madeleine, it's a distinct pleasure. My name is Francis and I'm sure we'll get along very, very well." He winked at her.

"Um…yeah, me too. You can call me Maddie."

"But Madeleine is so much more refined and _romantic_-"

They were distracted by shouting. It seemed that Yao was not happy with the arrangements made for his brother.

"Yao, you already see him each day! This is to help HK meet other people."

"But…"

"Besides, you have Im Yong Soo as your partner."

The Korean kid hopped up, positively radiating with excitement. "Hi! That's me!" He threw himself at the Chinese boy, squeezing him tight around the middle. "You'll be my aniki! I'm one hundred percent new here, but we'll be the best team ever invented, da ze!"

Several people didn't bother holding in their laughter as Yao gasped for breath. HK was leaning against his desk, scrutinizing a blond guy who looked just as apprehensive. Just with thicker eyebrows.

Francis clapped his hands. "Ah, there goes our daily dose of drama. So Madeleine, tell me about yourself."

She shrugged. "There's not much to know…um…I moved here about a year ago…with my mom, dad and brother. And my cat. Uh, I like reading and ice skating. And chocolate?"

He nodded. "Fascinating, fascinating. Where did you move from?"

"Canada."

"Ah! Canada!" He lit up at this. "Parlez-vous francais a l'ecole?"

She certainly hadn't been expecting this. "Uhh…non, j'habitais a Toronto et mon ecole n'a pas immersion francaise."

"Ah." Francis beamed at her again. "But that was very, very good for someone who didn't. As you can probably tell, I speak French myself. We're going to get along wonderfully!"

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><p>"So, he's pretty nice. He got really excited about me knowing French. His dad lives in Paris."<p>

On Monday, Maddie and HK met up before lunch period to compare their 'mentors.' HK raised an eyebrow at her.

"I've heard stuff about Francis Bonnefoy. People say he's a total womanizer."

"Oh. Well, I can see that." She pushed the door open and let him walk into the cafeteria first. "But honestly, he seemed to be trying to put on some sort of big brother act. Tell me about yours."

"His name is Arthur Kirkland. Kind of weird. He just talked about plays the entire time and how he's going to direct one next semester and I can help him."

"Will you?"

"Of course not. What do I know about theatre?"

"Madeleine!"

Just as she was reaching for a carton of milk, Maddie saw Francis walking towards them, waving happily with two of his friends in tow.

"How was your weekend, ma cherie?" Before she could answer, he went on. "Meet Antonio and Gillian."

The boy smiled at her, but the girl just stared until Francis elbowed her in the ribs.

"Ow! Fine. HI! I'm the awesome Gill. Bow to me, you little freshmeats!"

Francis frowned, but Antonio laughed at the unnerved expressions on Maddie and HK's faces. "Don't worry about her. Come on! Sit with us!"

"But guyyys," whined Gillian as the five of them moved towards the tables. "They're freshmeat!"

"You used to be one too," Maddie said. Gillian glanced at her.

"Aw, you had to remind me." She scanned the tables. "Hey! Sad Artie is all alone. Let's go cheer him up!"

HK's mentor was seated by himself at a table to the side of the room, face hidden by a book. He didn't even look up when Gillian, Francis and Antonio noisily descended upon him, followed closely by Maddie and HK.

"Artie! Artyfarty pants! You, of all people, win the grand prize of sitting with the most awesome people in school even though you didn't do anything awesome to deserve it! Ding ding ding! You should say, thank you, awesome Gillian! You're SO awesome!"

Arthur grumbled to himself and closed the book. HK sat down across from him.

"Oh, hello again. Here, this is the play I was talking about." Arthur slid it towards him. "You can read it if you like. You'll have to keep in mind that it's existentialist."

Francis tilted his head to read the title before HK put the book in his bag (in spite of what he'd said earlier). "Sartre? You're doing Sartre?"

Arthur glared at him. "Yes. What of it?"

Francis propped his chin up on his arms and smiled indulgently at him. "Nothing, dear Artie. It's nice to know that you prefer the works from _my_ homeland."

Arthur glowered. "I don't prefer them over English plays. It merely turned out that one of your lot happened to write something that was actually good!"

On the other side of the table, Antonio and Gillian were cheerfully interrogating Maddie. She found herself relaying her (relatively short) life story all over again.

"…from Toronto about a year ago."

"Ohh, so you're Canadian!" Gillian leaned forward, her long hair hovering dangerously close to Maddie's food. "Do you eat maple syrup and say 'eh' all the time? I like maple syrup! It's got an awesome taste!"

"The 'eh' thing is more for people around Ottawa," she explained. "And I guess maple syrup is pretty good."

"Yeah! It's awesome!"

"Hey, you said that already!" Antonio poked Gillian in the shoulder. "I have to admit one thing, Madison. I would've sworn you were Alfred's sister when I saw you."

"Uh, it's Madeleine. But you can call me Maddie." She blinked. "Who's Alfred?"

The two juniors stared at her. Antonio finally spoke up. "You're not related to him?"

She shook her head. "I don't know anybody called Alfred."

"But you look just like him!" Gillian was out of her seat, hands planted firmly on the table as she leaned over once more. "The same hair, eyes, nose, everything! You even wear glasses like his."

Antonio stared, also fascinated. "Wow! I was gonna ask if you were cousins. Gilly's right, you guys are almost the same."

"Maybe you were separated at birth!" Gillian gave up staying in her seat and sat on the table itself, helping herself to Antonio's lunch without asking. "Or maybe you're test tube babies! Made from scratch in some top-secret science lab and injected with some sort of dangerous chemical that makes you have awesome super powers when you grow up! Now that would be awesome."

Maddie giggled. "Yeah…but it's probably just a coincidence. And there's no way I can be identical to someone I don't even know."

"No, no." Antonio pushed away his plate. "We mean it. You look very, very much like this guy. Wait until you see him."

The bell rang, which triggered a flurry of packing up and students leaving in droves. Antonio and Gillian raised their voices over the clatter, looking over the cafeteria, trying to find Maddie's so-called doppelganger. She thought it was an interesting idea, but they were probably exaggerating.

Maddie turned to deposit her milk carton into the recycling bin on the other side of the cafeteria, telling HK that she'd meet him later during math. As she struggled through the crowds (was it really so hard for people to notice that there was a girl trying to get through?), one particularly hard jolt sent her crashing into a table.

"Whoa, watch it!"

Somebody grabbed her by the arm and hoisted her up.

"Th-thanks," she gasped, massaging her side.

"No sweat!" The bright voice oozed with confidence. "Always ready to help anybody out. Alfred Jones at your service!"

Maddie spun around.

And it was like looking into a mirror.

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><p><strong>AN: No Exit belongs to Jean-Paul Sartre.**

**I did the French myself and my French is crap so there is lots of room for mistakes. Basically, he asked her whether she spoke French at school, and she replied that she lived in Toronto and her school didn't do French immersion.**

**=D R&R please, thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I've been listening to the Magical Mystery Tour album on repeat for the past forty-five minutes and I'm not sick of it yet. **

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya. **

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><p>Alfred gaped. This, this girl…had his <em>face<em>.

Okay, not literally. Or else he wouldn't be able to stand there, slack-jawed, staring with round blue eyes at another pair of round blue eyes. But still. Same face. A petrified, terrified looking kinda face.

He shook his head to clear it. The difference that he was not looking scared! Heroes did not get scared. They had oodles and oodles of courage. Yes, heroes must not allow trivial things like people who had your FACE to deter them from their heroic deeds! Surely it was just a trick to test his valour.

"So, uh….you okay?"

"Y-yeah!" The girl scrambled to her feet awkwardly. "I'm good, thanks."

Now, this was just unsettling. Her voice even sounded a little like his – Alfred was feeling pretty spooked by this point. The girl stood there nervously.

Oh – he was still holding onto her arm. Alfred hastily let go. "Well, uh. No problem! Just doing what a hero does!"

"Um, okay." She shot him one more wide-eyed glance before taking off like a rabbit, leaving Alfred by himself in the middle of the cafeteria. She'd even forgotten her empty milk carton. He blinked.

"…weird!"

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><p>Alfred enjoyed the weekend. It was his favourite part of the week. In fact, he had a very particular schedule for his weekends, which he really didn't like to stray from. On Saturdays he would wake up at eleven, and make his own brunch. Today, this consisted of: a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, a chocolate cupcake, cherry coke, some carrot sticks, and scrambled eggs with jelly. Yes, jelly. He once read a book where someone ate scrambled eggs and jelly, and wanted to try it out too. It tasted fantastic, never mind what his mother thought.<p>

He would then eat his scrumptious feast in front of the television. Tuned in to Cartoon Network, naturally. Whoever said this channel was just for kids was…a lame jerky jerk because Justice League Unlimited was obviously the best show on the planet! Next to Teen Titans. And X-Men Evolution. And The Batman. Wolverine and the X-Men. Static Shock. Oh, fine - they were all equally awesome.

After this important ritual was done, he'd go outside and play ball with friends, weather permitting. This particular Saturday meant basketball with Toris. The two boys were practicing layups on the Jones' driveway in preparation for team tryouts, even though it was weeks away.

"Right left right!"

Toris dutifully followed the instructions, hopped up on the last foot, and tripped. The ball spun in the air for a moment, but plummeted back down to the ground a mere centimetre away from the net. Alfred caught it before it could bounce into the street.

"Well, that was still pretty good. Wanna take a break?"

Toris wiped his forehead and nodded. Retreating to the front porch, they plopped onto the pair of wicker chairs next to the door. Alfred tossed the ball back and forth between his hands. Toris watched him dejectedly.

"I don't know if I'll make in." He sat back and stared at the pots of violets hanging from the porch roof in resignation. "Feliks says he's going to be a cheerleader. He'll probably make it, but I don't know if they'll let him wear the skirts, which is what he's after…"

Alfred set the ball down between his feet. "Hey, Toris. Remember that girl I pointed out to you?"

The Lithuanian scratched his head. "Umm…no."

"Why doesn't anyone remember? Ugh," Alfred huffed. "Okay. There's this girl, you see…"

"And you want to get to _know_ her better?" Toris smiled. "Oh, Al…"

"Not like that!" Alfred was too lazy to sit up, but he shot his friend an irritated look. "I just want to know who she is because she's got my face!"

"Your face?"

"Yeah! She's got my face!" Alfred frowned. "Who does she think she is, stealing _my_ face?"

"You're going to have to explain a bit better what you mean by 'stealing your face,' because I really don't get it," Toris said.

"There's this new girl and she looks just like me," explained Alfred. "Like, she could be my twin. Almost. Kind of. Definitely! But the problem is, every time I pointed her out to someone this past week, it's like they can't see her. Or she runs off. I think..she's scared of me?"

"If you're so hung up on this girl, just go talk to her."

"I tried once! But as I said, she ran away," he grumped. "It was that time when we had to move the Bunsen burners and the lighters from the bio lab to the chem lab. She was walking on the other side of the hallway, and I was just like, 'Hey!' but she looked at me like I was a ghost or something and scarpered."

Toris sighed. "Not sure if you realized this Al, but chasing someone with an armful of things that, y'know, _set things on fire_ is not necessarily the friendliest way to approach them."

Alfred kicked his legs up on the porch railing, wiggling his ankles in and out. "Ngah, fine. Whatevs, dude."

Toris picked up the basketball and returned to the driveway.

"Honestly, Alfred, it's not that hard," he called out. "You're a nice guy. You just have to figure out how not to overwhelm people."

He carefully lifted the ball in his right hand, took three cautious, measured steps and flicked the ball upwards. The orange sphere smacked the backboard straight on the corner, swishing neatly past the rim and through the net.

Alfred clapped, Toris smiled.

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><p>"My notebook is getting full," HK said.<p>

He was huddled with Maddie and Yong Soo in a corner of the hallway after school. Maddie was hefting textbooks into her bag.

"How is it getting full? We've only been in class two weeks."

"It's because of my lists." He flipped it open. "There are so many important matters that require documentation just to keep track of them all. Who knew high school was so complicated? Here: List of class assignments. List of couples. List of nice teachers. List of bitchy teachers. List of the teachers who don't remember your name. List of the names that have been used instead. List of every book and play Arthur has mentioned in the conversations we've had since we met…"

"Koreans invented lists," Yong Soo interrupted.

"List of all the things this dork claims the Koreans have originated."

"Claims are also a Korean invention!"

Maddie grimaced and pulled out a copy of _Intermediate Level Algebra_. "Maybe you should begin a list all the insane things the upperclassmen do."

HK looked amused, though he didn't smile. "Done and done. In fact, in addition to a list, I'm also seriously considering to start collecting Arthur Kirkland quotes-"

"What is with you and this guy?" Yong Soo suddenly piped up. "You're kind of obsessed with him, da ze!"

HK froze and shot him a glare. If one could glare without moving any muscles, that is.

"Hey!"

The three freshmen jumped at the noise and spun around. Alfred blinked down at them through his glasses, hands hooked on the straps of a worn red backpack.

"Uh. Hi! I'm Alfred. Alfred Jones!"

Maddie and HK stared blankly, but Yong Soo was more than ready to make more friends.

"Im Yong Soo, da ze! He's Wang Ho Kam! We're in grade nine!"

Alfred nodded. "Oh, okay. Cool. And what's your name?" He gestured towards Maddie.

Yong Soo blinked in surprise. He had been so wrapped up in listening to HK that he'd forgotten why they were even in front of the lockers. "Oh! Well, she's Canadian. Ma…Ma…"

"Maddie Williams," she finished for him.

"She's _Maddie Williams!_"

They waited. Evidently, Alfred had not planned any further than introductions. Seconds ticked past: Alfred and Maddie stared at each other, HK opened his notebook again (List: Candidates for Top 10 Most Awkward Moments), and Yong Soo began to hum.

"You! You and me. We should hang out," Alfred suddenly declared, jabbing a finger at Maddie's face.

"Uh..oh…okay?" she squeaked.

"Wednesday, here. We'll talk," he told her. Maddie nodded mutely. "Great!"

"Hey!" A look of recognition dawned upon Yong Soo's face. "You were on the basketball team last year!"

Alfred paused. "Oh, yeah! I was!"

Yong Soo looked immensely pleased with himself. "I want to be on the team too! And I'll be really good, because basketball originated in Korea, da ze…"

Maddie sighed again, and HK flipped to a different page to add to his list. Alfred raised one eyebrow.

"Uh…no, I think it started in Massachusetts when some guy stuck a peach basket on the wall…"

"That's only the American version," Yong Soo insisted. "But the _real_ origins are from South Korea!"

Luckily for him, Alfred was not too picky about things like this and had a relaxed sense of humour. "Ooookay. Whatever you say, man. Anyway, I gotta go." He turned to Maddie again.

"Wednesday! Got it?" She nodded again. "You like burgers?"

The Canadian girl's forehead scrunched up in confusion. "Not particularly?"

He shot her an incredulous look. "Not particu…fine. You like ice cream?"

Who didn't? "Sure," she said.

"Cool. We'll go for ice cream!" Alfred hooked his fingers under his backpack straps again. "Okay, see ya Maddie."

She waved awkwardly. HK pulled out his phone and flipped it open. Yong Soo peered fascinatedly down the hall at Alfred's retreating back.

"Ooh! You got a date! That was fast, da ze!"

"Wha…i-it's not a date!" Maddie felt her face burn. But it was true – there was no way she could see herself pursuing a relationship with someone who looked like her. She hated couples like that. They were creepy.

"So, apparently I'm going to see a play next weekend," HK announced. He was replying a text message.

"A play? Since when do you watch plays?" Yong Soo latched onto this interesting piece of information. "You should watch plays with me! I can tell you all about them, because theatre originated in Korea-"

"I'm going with Arthur," HK said, this time a bit more loudly.

Yong Soo pouted. "That's not fair…Yao never wants to go anywhere with me."

"Francis doesn't seem to _remember_ who I am," Maddie said, head still reeling from the completely random act of...of randomness that had just occurred.

"But that other guy just asked you out! I wish some of the older people would hang out with me. But, hmm." He began to look thoughtful. "It would be funny to watch you guys together, because he kind of looks like he could be your aniki too, da ze…"

"It's not a date," she repeated. At least, she really, really hoped it wasn't.

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><p><strong>AN: The book Alfred is referring to is **_**The Outsiders**_**. Ponyboy, Sodapop and Darry have pretty bizarre breakfast foods. And yeah, someone's got a suuuuper sweet tooth ^-^**

**I don't find American football very interesting. In fact, I think it's downright boring. Basketball is fun, though. Therefore, Al plays basketball. (Also, regardless of what Yong Soo thinks, it **_**did**_** originate in the States.)**

**R&R, P's and than-Q's!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow! So great to receive such positive feedback from new readers ^-^ I hope you enjoy this.**

**Anyway, working on my personal variant of NaNoWriMo + fics + schoolwork + following Hetaween is exhausting! But in a good way. Luckily I'm off school today and tomorrow so I will use it to catch up on…well, EVERYTHING. **

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
>The Sword in the Stone belongs to TH White.<strong>

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><p>Maddie stared at herself in the mirror. The clock on her dresser ticked ominously: there were only seven minutes before she needed to be out the door in order to get to school on time, but her bag still remained packed and downstairs, her breakfast uneaten. These two little details buzzed around the back of her mind like fitful bees, but she just couldn't pull herself away from her reflection.<p>

She tugged at her clothes nervously. It was a knee-length dress in blue plaid, neither overly dressy but a lot better than what she normally threw on.

Yong Soo had badgered her all Tuesday about "hanging out" with Alfred. By claiming the origins of everything from cinemas to walks on the beach to fancy restaurants for his country, he'd done a successful job at gradually psyching Maddie out until HK had finally hit him with his notebook.

She turned. "Okay. What do you think, Kuma?"

The family cat, a chubby, greyish-white British longhair, dozed lazily at the foot of her bed, taking advantage of the sunlight streaming through the crack in her curtains. Kuma blinked blandly at her, not seeming to register any recognition with her owner. Maddie sighed and peered back at the mirror once more.

The dress was cute, she supposed. But to be honest, she didn't want to date Alfred. He seemed friendly and was fairly attractive…yet all that was really pushing her to "hang out" with this guy was. Well. Curiosity. If you knew that your look-alike was roaming about, you'd want to know what they were up to too, right?

"Forget it!" She straightened and glared at herself. "This is ridiculous. I'm NOT going on a date, and that is final!"

She grabbed the bottom of the dress and yanked it up over her head irritatedly. Kuma flicked her tail back and forth, not caring one jot about the resolute girl marching over to her closet in her underwear.

Jeans and hoodie it was. The most casual fare she could think of – though for a moment, Maddie wondered if her choice in slacker attire was perhaps pushing the emphasis on not-a-date a bit too vehemently – even if it was a bit too warm for a hoodie. But that wasn't the point; these were comfort clothes. And she felt like she deserved as much comfort and encouragement she could possibly get.

After nearly killing herself biking like a madwoman, Maddie made it just barely in time for the bell. Other students crammed the hallways, forming lazy crowds in front of classrooms as they ambled into their first period.

"E-excuse me," she tried. "Uh, can I get throu-OOF!"

Nobody seemed to hear her, shuffling along and carelessly knocking her back and forth like a sack of potatoes. It only took one accidental shove to the shoulder that sent Maddie sprawling onto the floor.

"HEY! YOU!"

Maddie hefted herself up with one elbow, but fell back down again as she managed to step on the hem of her jeans. She was vaguely aware of some sort of one-sided shouting match that was occurring over her head. When the noise died down, somebody was dragging her upwards by the waist.

Gillian grinned down at her. "Hi, Maddie!"

The older girl didn't let go, and Maddie felt her face heat up.

"Um…hi?"

"Some stupid guy knocked you down! But don't worry, the awesome me told him just how much of an ass he was! You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Maddie kind of wanted Gillian to let go of her. It was really awkward, having your midsection attached to someone else.

Gillian didn't seem to think so, and continued with her arms still wrapped around her stomach. "GOOD! Don't let them knock you around. You're definitely more awesome than that."

Maddie squeaked when the silver-haired girl suddenly gave her a squeeze before proudly walking away. The hallway was now nearly deserted, and Maddie had to book it in order to get to class on time.

Now, it was back to the original goal: to avoid trouble. She avoided trouble in all her morning classes, right up until lunch. Avoided trouble during lunch, this time remembering to recycle her freakin' milk carton. Avoided trouble passing Francis and his friends in the hall: Maddie's "mentor" completely missed her, too busy smirking and gesturing about something to some vapid-looking redhead while Antonio stood behind him and stared off into space, clearly bored and zoned out. Gillian, however, waved enthusiastically. Avoided trouble in PE, mostly because nobody seemed to think of passing the ball to her, even though she found herself wide open several times throughout the game. But most of all, avoided Yong Soo and both his constant pen-jabbing and mouth-jabbering, making sure that HK always ended up sitting between them.

She'd apologize to him later.

It wasn't intentional, but along with avoiding trouble, she also tried to avoid Alfred. He was tall, loud and boisterous, so it was easy to pick him out in a crowd…but Maddie really didn't want to talk to him just yet. She was going to have to deal with an entire afternoon of all that later, anyway. And she refused to give Yong Soo any more fodder for any of his far-fetched fantasies. Exaggeration probably originated in Korea - she'd give him that.

Before she knew it, the final bell was ringing again, and HK had dragged Yong Soo off to play video games at his house. Maddie really owed him. She'd spent the day half-hoping that Alfred had forgotten about his invitation, but alas, there he was in front of her locker. He was idly thumbing through a book, looking only vaguely interested.

Alfred smiled as she approached. "Hey! Man, you're slow. I've been waiting for like, five minutes!"

"Um…sorry…"

"Nah, don't apologize." He tossed the book into the air, and for a moment she was distracted by the way it spun around before his hands clapped around it again. "Y'need to get anything?"

"Oh…no."

"Cool! Then we'll go to the Burger Barn. I know we said ice cream but I'm reeeaaally hungry." The book took flight again, but its landing wasn't so neat – it slipped through Alfred's fingers and plopped onto the floor. Maddie picked it up.

"_The Sword in the Stone!_" She gently smoothed out the creased pages. "It's so good! Where are you at in it?"

He took it back. "Oh, haven't started…just got assigned to it today. Is it really that good? Who's the hero?"

They began to walk. "It's the story about King Arthur as a kid. You know, like the Disney movie?"

"OH! I've seen that!" Alfred's backpack bounced as he sauntered alongside her.

After they left the building, Maddie halted while Alfred automatically made a left turn.

"Um…sorry…but I biked here." She pointed awkwardly in the opposite direction. "I kind of have to take it with me. Sorry."

"Oh, no probs. Actually, that's great!" He grabbed her wrist and eagerly set off towards the bicycle racks. "We'll get there so much faster!"

As soon as she had unlocked her bike from its post, he grabbed it and threw a leg over. "Alright, hop on!"

She stared at him. "Where?" He gestured towards the handlebars. "What?"

"Never ridden on there before?"

"Well – I – it's so – "

Maddie couldn't think of any good enough excuses, so after a bit of fumbling, she found herself perched over the front wheel and holding on for dear life. Alfred, absolutely pumped at not having to walk all the way to the fast food joint, set off eagerly.

"W-wait! Are you sure you won't crash?"

"Never fear! If we fall, I'll save you!"

"I'd prefer NOT to fall, thank you very much!"

"Then we won't!"

They sailed over a bumpy section of the road. Maddie squeezed her eyes shut and prayed.

* * *

><p>Due to what was probably an act of grace from the heavens, Maddie, Alfred, and her blessed bike made it to the Burger Barn in one piece. Having been promised ice cream, she opted to have a simple sundae, but Alfred didn't seem to consider this stop as a casual snack time. Greeting the employee by name (it was clear that he was a regular customer), he proceeded to amaze Maddie by rattling off a long list of items, including a burger, fries, soda, chicken fingers, a donut, and finally, ice cream.<p>

"What?" He shrugged defensively. "I'm hungry!"

The two of them settled into a booth at the back of the place, Maddie with her tiny plastic cup and Alfred with his overflowing tray. She didn't feel very intimidated anymore, just a little impressed at how much this guy could pack away – AND managing to keep up a steady stream of conversation all the while. The topic jumped about sporadically, from Maddie's old hometown (Alfred couldn't grasp the concept that it didn't snow constantly in Canada) to pets (he owned six goldfish, all named after comic book characters) to other students (he seemed to find Francis and his friends downright hilarious, though became strangely silent at the mention of Arthur).

By this point, most of his food had been devoured, even though the soda cup was still half-full and both their ice creams had melted. Maddie was actually enjoying herself immensely. Alfred was extremely friendly and funny, and she found herself laughing more than once.

Their giggles trailed off into a pause. Alfred was leaning back on his cushioned bench, regarding her thoughtfully. Suddenly, he sat up and leaned across the table.

"Are you adopted?"

She stared at him.

"What?"

"Adopted, y'know, at birth." Taking his drink, he slurped loudly and smacked the cup on the tabletop. "I think I am. My parents are kind of old."

He said all this in a rather matter-of-fact tone, as if it was merely an opinion of whether Coke or Pepsi tasted better (though perhaps, this being Alfred, that kind of debate would actually incite a bit more passion). His gaze had lost that glimmer of excitement, that kind that adored and found pride in everything it set itself on.

"And, they both have dark brown hair," he added. "Just like all my aunts'n uncles. And my grandparents, in their old photographs. They also all have brown eyes. Look, I don't mind…" Alfred's hand gripped his drink slightly harder. "…Because they're still MY family in any case, but…so…just wonderin'…are you?"

Maddie was speechless. Okay, really? They had just met two days ago. This guy had nerve.

"My parents are brunettes," she said. "But I don't think that means I'm not their child. People always say I act a lot like my mom."

Alfred shrugged. "But _you're_ blonde."

"My brother-" Maddie paused. "Well, he has…dirty blond hair."

"That's still a kind of brown. Or, maybe he's adopted too!"

"He isn't." Maddie was beginning to get irritated. "He's got the same nose and facial structure as my dad."

Alfred tipped his head to the side thoughtfully. "So, wonder why they adopted you?"

She set down her spoon, an upset feeling rising in her chest. "Why are you so obsessed with this idea?"

"Because I think…" He paused, and looked at his tray. Picking up the paper burger wrapper, he scrunched it into a ball. "…If you don't know who your real parents are, anyone could be related to you, right?"

Maddie frowned. All of a sudden, this meeting had swung into serious territory, which wasn't really clicking with her right now.

"Yeah, so?"

"So…" Now Alfred was shooting sidelong glances at her as he busied himself with collecting the small pieces of rubbish littering the table onto his tray. "You, kind of. Look like me. A lot. We share the same face! If I'm adopted, and you're adopted…"

It dawned upon her.

"But I'm _not_," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "You really that sure?"

Maddie opened her mouth to insist, but…she hated herself for it, but that quizzical expression seemed to give her confidence a bit of a shake.

"Y-yes."

Alfred remained unconvinced. "Okay…"

Another look at that arched brow and those unsure feelings morphed into ones of indignation. "Hey! You don't even know if you're adopted for sure! You said so yourself."

His face relaxed into a laugh. "'Kay, good point. Wanna make a deal? I ask my parents, and you ask yours."

Maddie couldn't think how she would be able to phrase such a question in a non-accusatory way. But now the gleam in Alfred eyes provoked her, egging her on to take up the challenge.

"Fine," she said. "Deal."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It's a lot of fun listing the foods Alfred eats, I must admit.**

**Oh man, that Hetaween. Got so little work done. But the costumes were fabulous! My favourite group was the Tomato Gang, of course =D**

**R&R, please!  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Whoaa! Updating this instead of **_**All The Answers**_**? Well, I'm not done with the last chapter yet. It's proving a little finicky to wrap up.**

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
>Superman belongs to DC Comics.<strong>

* * *

><p>As it turned out, merely promising to uphold one end of a deal was a lot easier than actually doing it. That afternoon Maddie had arrived home, and one look at her mother instantly drained her heart of the courage she'd mustered up.<p>

She just tried to push it out of her mind. But on Friday evening, when her brother had a minor league hockey game, Maddie pretended to feel tired and by a stroke of luck, was allowed to stay at home.

Now she was nibbling on a grilled cheese sandwich, sitting in the middle of the living room surrounded by boxes. It had been such a hassle to drag them all up from the basement. In retrospect, she realized that it probably would have been a better idea to just go through them downstairs, but…well, it had taken so much effort, might as well go through with it!

Maddie took another bite and surveyed the small mess she'd created. And most of them weren't even opened yet. Kuma, having smelled the cheese, padded in and sat at a distance, staring hard at her – just with a slightly confused expression. If cats had facial expressions, that is.

The human finished off the sandwich and wiped her hands on her shirt. Time to begin sorting. She leaned over, grabbed the side of one open cardboard box and pulled.

"Aw, crap," she groaned.

Not a smart idea. It ripped easily under her grasp. Maddie was forced to get up on her knees and awkwardly shove the box towards her, its contents leaning heavily against the ripped side and threatening to fall out. She almost lost her balance from the effort. Kuma, still a few paces away, twitched her tail in what may have been amusement.

"Stop it," Maddie automatically insisted, before realizing she was defending herself to a cat. Red-faced, she reached up to grab a cushion from the couch to settle against, and then began to rummage through the box.

Ahhh. The heaviest item was a fancy photo album with cushioned covers. This might be interesting – sneezing at the dust, Maddie opened it and found pages of faded photographs.

The first few pages were very, very old. A teenaged Sarah Trudeau smiled back up at her, adorably decked out in her totally radical 70s garb. A few pages later found Sarah in a poofy 80s wedding dress, standing radiant at the altar with a very proud-looking Jacob Williams. They were so cute. Maddie gazed at the pictures of her happy parents.

She was so engrossed with tailing their past (as well as getting a crash history course on the eccentricities of fashion) that it was a shock when she finally got to a photo of herself. To be fair, it seemed a little hard to find. Tiny Maddie never seemed to grab the camera's focus very often.

So, some things never change, she thought. Even when I was a baby, people hardly noticed me…

The album ended with the one, random photo of Maddie, so she tossed it back into the box and reached for another. This was labelled "Photos 2" and had another album, but this time made of plastic and looking far more recent than the previous one.

The first few pictures were of Maddie again. Maddie as a blinking, confused baby. Maddie as a blinking, confused toddler. Maddie wearing a bear backpack. Maddie eating pancakes extremely messily. Maddie and her first snowman.

Another page turn, and Maddie was suddenly bombarded with a completely different scenario. Her mother lay exhausted on a hospital bed, but grinned happily at the camera – with a tiny infant in her arms. Underneath the photograph, she could make out a caption in her father's scribbly left-handed slant.

_February 10 – Welcome to the world, Gabriel!_

Ah, so now her brother would start figuring in these memories. Pictures of the entire family (going to the beach, having a picnic, playing at Canada's Wonderland) appeared, along with ones of just the two Williams siblings. One even had both of them fussing over a tiny, greyish-white kitten – baby Kuma!

The cat in question didn't seem to care for reminiscing and had settled at Maddie's side noiselessly.

"How can you be so nonchalant about my existence?" she asked in exasperation. Kuma made no response.

Maddie went through all the way until she had "graduated" grade five, when she finally reached an interesting slip at the end of the album. Pulling the creamy paper from its fold, she turned it around and stared at the words

_Birth Certificate – Gabriel Jacques Williams  
>Parents – Jacob and Sarah Williams<em>

Strangely enough, this brought a sinking feeling to her stomach. Here it was, official and concrete: Gabriel definitely a Williams. Maddie wondered where her birth certificate was. Or why her parents didn't have any very-first-day photos of her as well. Perhaps they hadn't gotten into the habit? Yeah, that must be it.

Alfred was being ridiculous; she _had_ to be one of them.

She looked at all the boxes. All the photographs. All the little trinkets and mementoes. All the memories and connections and heaps of love. They belonged to a family…her family.

* * *

><p>Alfred, on the other hand, was successfully conducting his own private investigation. He'd even dressed up for the occasion – the smart grey fedora his father occasionally wore to events, the matching dinner jacket, and a kelly green tie decorated with smiley faces. Hey, it was the only tie Alfred owned, and he already felt guilty about taking so many things out of his parents' closet.<p>

The way he was investigating his parentage was by, well…squinting through a magnifying glass at a photo of his mother and father, then squinting at himself in a mirror. It was crude, but effective. Fine, more like functional. He was discovering that there really were not too many physical similarities between the three of them. And that staring at oneself nose to nose against a mirror made one feel cross-eyed.

Sighing, he tossed the magnifying glass onto the bed next to him and kicked up his feet on the desk. Examining himself in the mirror, he adjusted his sitting position until he could have passed as a hardboiled detective from a film noir movie. Alfred tilted his hat forwards just a bit, covering one eye. All he needed now was dramatic lighting.

Alas, it was a very bright and sunny afternoon, and having yellow curtains certainly didn't help. Alfred sighed again, taking off the fedora and putting it onto the desk, next to the photo of his parents.

So, if he was adopted, then where was his biological family at? Alfred wiggled his toes, wondering. Perhaps they were separated. Perhaps they had been young and stupid, and didn't feel up to the responsibility of caring for a child. Perhaps they had really, really wanted him but didn't have the means, and had placed him into David and Emily Jones' arms with tears streaming down their cheeks…

Perhaps they were dead.

His eyes roamed the room uneasily as his brain tried to push the last thought away. That was silly; he had a totally great family who gave him anything he wanted now anyway. It was just a really morbid thoughts, and Alfred straight-up disliked morbid thoughts. The pair of baby blues rested upon Alfred's formidable comic book collection.

If they were dead...Alfred's imagination whirred into top gear. It was just like Jor-El and Lara giving up their only son! What if Alfred Jones was merely the new Clark Kent, taken in by humble mortals who instilled chivalrous morals into the impressionable young infant, so that one day he could become a hero of _justice_ and _freedom_…Alfred hardly noticed that he'd completely gone out of his film noir pose, now sitting on the edge of his seat in excitement. He could very well be the next Superman!

But what would that make Maddie? He got up and walked over to the shelf thoughtfully. But of course! She would be his Supergirl, Kal-El's Kryptonian cousin, Kara Zor-El! It was way too perfect.

His mother's voice burst his daydreams.

"Alfy! Come downstairs, we're all waiting!"

Almost instantly, the smell of barbecued meats hit his nostrils. Not waiting a second longer, he shrugged out of the jacket and bolted down the staircase.

His dad was scrutinizing the grill closely. A good heady waft of smoke was rising from it, and beyond was the long wooden table that was being loaded with more food. Hailing his aunts and uncles cheerfully, Alfred grabbed a plate and plopped down in the midst of the bounty – corn on the cob, coleslaw, garlic bread, drinks, and at one end – marshmallows and crackers for dessert.

"Nope," his mother said automatically, when he had only_ looked_ at the marshmallows. "Dessert comes after everything else, you hear me?"

"Yeah, mom," he said. "Gotcha." At least nothing else was denied. Realizing just how hungry he was, Alfred dumped a nice amount of coleslaw onto his plate and dug in.

As he chewed, he looked around. He liked the Jones. They were a chatty, loud, friendly and generous bunch. His perfect people! And no random adoption thingie deal was going to change that…all Alfred wanted was just to _know_.

He leaned back, towards the short, rotund man standing a foot or two behind him. "Hey, Uncle Mike?"

"What's up, Al?"

"You know anyone else in the family who's blond?"

Uncle Mike finished off his beer and stroked his dark beard thoughtfully.

"No, can't say I do," he finally said. Smiling at Alfred, he ruffled the teen's hair good-naturedly. "Guess that makes you our _golden_ boy, huh!"

Alfred laughed along, but when Mike wandered off to find another drink, he remained quiet over his plate. All the Jones had chestnut brown hair that had a tendency to curl here and there, when it got to a particular length. Even his mother had her hair up in an ash brown knot. Alfred was surprised at how relaxed everybody was. How strange it was, to be the only blond person there. Even the gradient of silver beginning at the back of his father's head couldn't mask it – Alfred was like butterscotch in a sea of chocolate.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Short, but sweet, right? Any guess as to who Gabriel is? :3 And Trudeau…he's not my favourite Canadian PM or anything; he was just the first one that came to mind. I wanted it to sound French. /shrug**

**Thank you for reading, please R&R!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi again, everyone! My classes for this term just ended yesterday. Yeah! Now let's have some familial AmeCan.**

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
>Mario Kart belongs to Nintendo.<strong>

* * *

><p>"Maddie. Maddie. Maddie. Maddie!"<p>

Somebody had grabbed her right upper arm and was shaking it back and forth.

"Maddie! Maaaaddie!"

"W-what?" The shaking had grown too hard to ignore. Maddie cracked an eye open.

She was flopped onto the couch, having actually succumbed to tiredness after combing through all the photo albums. Gabriel, still in his hockey jersey, still hadn't let go of her arm.

"We WON!" He gave her arm one final shake before dropping it to fold his arms, looking very smug. "My team won, and I can't believe you weren't even there to see it, ya sucker!"

Maddie groggily sat up. "Okay. Whatever, congratulations."

Gabriel frowned. "You've been so boring lately." He snatched up his hockey stick and began to climb up the stairs, purposefully letting the stickhead clatter against the wooden railings.

She could hear her parents puttering around in the kitchen. Mr. Williams poked his head around the corner.

"Hey, hon! Thought you'd be in bed by now…didn't you say you were tired?"

Gabriel's voice trailed down from the landing. "She fell asleep on the couch!"

As her mother shushed him for shouting across the house, Maddie swung her legs down onto the floor. Her father walked over and settled onto the cushions next to her, gently pushing Kuma to the side.

"You've been more quiet recently, sweetheart…is everything at school okay?"

"Yeah…" She didn't move as Kuma huffily padded over to settle onto her lap. "There's like. Homework. But it's not too bad."

He nodded affably and turned on the television with the remote. The screen buzzed to life, with some sort of old-timey western movie showing.

She wondered whether she should mention the boxes that were now stuffed haphazardly in a messy pile at the bottom of the steps to the basement. Her father chuckled at a smart quip the weather-beaten cowboy on screen had just said.

"Hey dad," Maddie said, scooping up Kuma by the belly. The chubby cat didn't complain, yawning apathetically. "I think I'll actually go to sleep now."

"Alright. But wait -" He leaned over to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she could go anywhere. "Sweet dreams!"

Maddie could hardly handle it. Nodding woodenly, she heard herself saying goodnight in a faraway voice, and then it seemed as if she blinked and was suddenly in her own room. Kuma had become uncomfortable in her grip and was wriggling her legs around.

Dropping the cat onto a chair, Maddie flopped headfirst onto the bed and was out like a light.

* * *

><p>"It's so weird, but he might be right."<p>

She was at HK's house for video game Saturdays. He and Yong Soo were way better than her, of course, but occasionally she and HK would team up in order to ravage Yong Soo's ass into oblivion. Unfortunately, Mario Kart was not really game where you normally teamed up, so Maddie was dead last as usual.

"Alfred, you mean?" HK zipped by another non-playing character, pushing his place up to third. "That you're adopted?"

"Yeah, I was going through our family's old stuff and…in short, it was kind of suspicious."

"Adoption originated in Korea," Yong Soo said through a mouthful of chips. "Think about it, so many adopted kids are cute Korean babies, da ze-oh, HEY, aniki!"

Yao appeared in the doorway, looking disgruntled.

"We're not related, aru," he told Yong Soo. "Wang Ho Kam, are you going to sit here and play games all day?"

HK looked up from the screen, just narrowly missing a turtle shell.

"Hmmm. Yes."

"You can join us, da ze!" Yong Soo reached over and waved the extra controller in Yao's face. "There's one more spot for the game!"

"No," Yao said bluntly. "Two people wasting their day is quite enough for one house, aru…" With that, he left the room.

Maddie sighed. Once again, overlooked.

HK crossed the finish line, amid computerized cheers and tinny game music. "Okay. So what if you're adopted? It doesn't make you any different. Except for, like, your perception of the past or something."

Yong Soo laughed. "You mean to say her entire existence?"

HK frowned. "No, I meant more like…just the past. Now doesn't change anything."

"Except that Alfred could be her brother!" Yong Soo polished off the bag of chips. "That's pretty different, da ze!"

"I meant changing how she feels about her family…"

Maddie tossed her controller onto a cushion. Of course, HK was right. She wasn't going to feel any different about her family even if she was adopted. Because, of course, _they_ had been the ones who wanted her! So, biological parents' loss. Williams family win.

"So," Yong Soo's inquisitive voice cut into her thoughts. "How are you going to say that you know right to your parents' face, da ze?"

Oh, bummer. That was precisely the question she'd been mulling over for the past few days.

* * *

><p>Though she had no way of knowing, the same thoughts had been flying through Alfred's head all weekend too. The barbeque? Delicious. Being the only person below the age of twenty-five certainly had its perks – nobody really minded giving a good amount of food to their "healthy, growing boy." And the Joneses were avid foodies, so this was saying a lot.<p>

Saturday – Alfred's Saturday routine was well set and little could be done to sway him from it. So Sunday was primarily for homework. After flipping through the pages of _The Sword of the Stone_ several times to no avail, Alfred hopped out of his room and down the stairs.

Anything to avoid homework! His father was reading the newspaper, and his mother was knitting something lumpy and purple for a distant cousin's baby shower. Both glanced up pleasantly when their son wandered into the living room.

"How's the reading going, Al?"

"Good, good. S'all good!" His stomach rumbled. "I'm hungry!"

Mrs. Jones laughed. "It's only four thirty, Alfy."

"Really?" Time always seemed to slow whenever he was bored, wanted food, or worst of all, both. "Can't you start cooking early or something?"

She raised an eyebrow. "If you want to have supper before six, then I suppose I could." She smiled again at his pout. "You can help, if you want. I just realized that I don't have enough cheese for the casserole…want to go get some for me?"

Alfred instantly threw his hand up to a mock salute. "Yes ma'am! Will be back in T-20 minutes from the store!" He heard both his parents laugh as he grabbed a jacket.

Sticking his head back into the living room, he added, "Oh, and I just wanna let you know that I'm okay with being adopted. I mean, if I actually am. And I think I am. If I'm not, pretend I didn't say that. But if I am, I'm saying that I'm totally cool with that, and you're the best parents ever. 'Kay, see ya!"

Alfred flashed the now stunned silent couple his best grin and sped out the door. After about a block of running, he slowed down to think over his introduction to the subject.

Okay, maybe it was a little abrupt and out of the blue…but with him out of the house, he was giving them time to collect their thoughts. Yeah, it was a pretty good way of telling them. Maybe the perfect way, even!

* * *

><p>Sunday evening's meal also turned out to be a bit of an event at the Williams household. It was true that baked salmon was served only every few weeks, but the food on the table turned out to have its spotlight stolen from them.<p>

"Maddie, do you want more rice?"

The sound of her mother's voice startled her. Maddie had been staring at her brother across the table, who was picking away at his asparagus.

"Uh, sure."

Gabriel speared the vegetable stalk onto his fork. "Yeah, you've been so weird these past few days."

"Sorry," she said. As another helping of fluffy white rice got spooned onto her plate, Maddie's mouth suddenly opened on its own. "Mom, am I adopted?"

Only Gabriel's fork froze on its way to his mouth. Mr. and Mrs. Williams merely looked at her with mild surprise.

"Ah," remarked her father. "How did you find out?"

Maddie gasped. "Wa…so…you mean I'm right?"

Her mother set the plate back in front of her. "Yes, if you really want to know. But you're still our daughter. Eat before it gets cold."

Maddie picked up her fork. "Wait! Just like that?"

"Am I adopted too?" Gabriel asked.

"No, actually. You were the surprise baby! It was such a shock that your poor mother nearly fell off her chair. And we're lucky she didn't," Mr. Williams added hastily.

"Wa…how did you find me?" Maddie put her fork down. She was resolved not to eat until all her questions were answered. "Why did you pick me? And where's my birth certificate?"

Her mother patted her shoulder. "One at a time, sweetie. To put it in easier terms, your dad and I originally thought that there were just so many children out there, we wanted to contact an agency to find a child there instead of having one ourselves."

"So you felt sorry for me…"

"No, no. As soon as we walked into that hospital and saw your round little face, we knew you were perfect for us." Mrs. Williams paused for a moment. "Oh, that sounds so corny, but it's true."

"Then why did you have me?" Gabriel had returned to shovelling food into his mouth.

"As we said, you were the surprise baby. And since Maddie was all by herself…we thought, why not? It would be good to give her a playmate."

Gabriel wiped his mouth, looking smug. "I _knew_ we were different!"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "The epitome of politeness as always. But where's my birth certificate? I found Gabey's in the photo albums downstairs."

Her father looked up from his plate. "Really? Huh. I guess we forgot to put it back with all the other legal documents. Thanks for telling me."

Maddie's mother hugged her around the shoulders before sitting down to eat. Maddie was amazed at herself. She'd felt tortured for days about this, but within fifteen minutes everything was out, neat and clean. And they had all went back to their food as if it was completely normal conversation. She felt surprisingly happy about this. But of course. HK was right again. It didn't really change anything…

"I have to say though, I thought it was weird how the birth mother was putting another child up for adoption," Her father suddenly said. "While I'm happy that you came out of it, it just seemed a little…careless on her part."

Maddie looked at him sharply. "_What?_"

"She was this young thing, barely into her twenties," He said. "The agency said that she'd already given away another baby roughly a year before."

He cut off a piece of salmon, put it in his mouth and chewed. After swallowing, he added, "A boy, I think."

Maddie's jaw dropped.

* * *

><p>Alfred strolled up his driveway, humming some song he'd heard before on the radio – couldn't remember the name. In one hand was a plastic bag with enough cheese to last them for two weeks, and in the other, a half-eaten corndog.<p>

Hey, he had said he was hungry!

Pushing the door open, he was met with a very still and silent house.

"Hey, mom! Dad! I'm back!"

Alfred shrugged out of his jacket while the sound of footsteps approaching echoed down the hallway. Mrs. Jones hurried towards him, breathless.

"Oh, Alfred. We're so sorry we didn't tell you-"

"Oh, so I am adopted? Sweet, I figured that out all on my own!"

"-just weren't sure when was the right moment to talk about it," she finished, not really having heard him. Alfred handed her the cheese and smiled.

"That's okay. I'm cool with it!"

"You have to know that we love you very much and see you as our own. It's just that your father and I couldn't have children for the longest time, so we decided to adopt-"

"It's _okay_, mom."

"You're the best thing that ever happened to us-"

Mr. Jones appeared at the top of the stairs, brandishing an envelope.

"It's all in here, if you want to know. We only met her once, but the agency would have all the information…"

Sticking the corndog stick into his mouth, Alfred put his hands on his hips, looking from one anxious parent to another. When they finally paused for breath, he reached over and hugged them both.

"I love you guys. You're _awesome_. I don't wanna meet someone who didn't want me, that's just asking for it. I said it's okay! Don't be upset, please."

There was a moment of silence, then his father hugged him back, hard. His mother promptly burst into tears.

"Oh, Alfy…we always thought you would want to…"

"Mom! Seriously? Stop it, now it's just embarrassing."

Mr. Jones was laughing to himself. "Yes, it's pretty embarrassing to know we worried ourselves silly for all these years…just in case though, if you ever wanted to know."

Alfred shook his head. "I already said. Why would I want to meet someone who didn't want me?"

"Well, it's not just that." His father put the envelope back into his pocket anyway. "When you were nearly one, they called us back to ask if we wanted to adopt again. Your birth mother was going to have a girl and they thought perhaps we would have wanted to keep the siblings together…I must confess that we weren't sure if we were up to having two kids, and we were so happy with just you already, so we said no. That was okay, said the agency, somebody else was interested. But I'm sure if you want to find her, they'll be more than happy to he-"

"HOLD UP!" Alfred's corndog stick fell to the carpet, forgotten. "Are you serious, are you _freakin'_ serious?"

Mr. and Mrs. Jones stared at him in surprise. "Yes. Would you like to contact the age-"

"We don't have to!" Alfred grabbed his jacket again. "Let's go now!"

Mrs. Jones picked up the stick. "But Alfy, we don't know where this girl is right now. She could be anywhere in the entire co-"

"But _I_ know where she is! She's HERE!" He grabbed their arms and tugged them towards the door. "Come ON!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ahhhh the moment of truth!**

**In my mind, HK and Yong Soo play games a lot. That's why they're good friends :3 Except HK is better in arcades and Yong Soo will pwn anybody on a computer. **

**This whole time I was writing this, I was craving poutine. So badly. Which is weird, I don**'**t often have poutine. But I really want it now...  
><strong>

**R&R please? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! Some very obnoxious things got in the way, most notably exams and final assignments. But that's all done and I'm back in the beautiful 852 for winter holidays!**

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.**

* * *

><p>"Al, honey...are you really sure that you don't want to wait until another time?"<p>

"No way! I'm not gonna wait! Just trust me, mom."

"But you don't even know where to go!"

This was true. Alfred slouched in the backseat of the family car. Knowing Maddie's address would be significantly easier. Mr. Jones had been driving around for nearly half an hour now, and his parents were getting a little irritated.

But he had to prove that this was no wild goose chase, he totally knew that Maddie was the missing sister! Alfred poked through his contact list in his cell phone. Most of his friends didn't know how to find Maddie, let alone who she was. A good number of them, like his parents, thought he was going kinda crazy. So what? Something this immense was bound to be at least a little bit crazy!

There was one number he hadn't called yet. Because he didn't want to. They probably didn't want him to. But still, there was the tiniest off chance that this person would know how to get in touch with Maddie. Alfred sighed and pressed the little green button.

He might not even be home, Alfred mused. Or maybe he won't recognize my voice, and know where we can fi-

"Good evening, you've reached the Kirkland residence. This is Arthur speaking."

Damn. The car stopped in front of a red light. Alfred sat up straighter.

"Uhhh...Hi! I, um. Kinda need your help, d'ya know whe-"

_Click_. Alfred stared at his phone in disbelief. He hadn't even mentioned his name and Arthur was already being his grumpy, grudge-holding self...Alfred scowled out the window. Stubborn British butthead!

"Something wrong?"

"Nah, it's nothing." His father took a left turn, and Alfred realized they were heading home. Just as well, he thought glumly. She would be at school tomorrow. But telling her all about it wouldn't be the same. And it was just too far away. Alfred wasn't sure if he could last an entire twelve hours more.

The recognition of failure was an awful feeling. Alfred slouched down again. He didn't mean to give up. Not that Maddie probably was aware of this whole mission thing, but he was and he would feel very disappointed in himself. Did Nightcrawler give up on Rogue when they discovered they were siblings? Hell no!

He was thinking so hard, he barely even recognized the clump of people who were about to pass by his window. Gazing blankly at the back of the last person's head, Alfred suddenly snapped back into the real world.

"Dad! Stop for a sec!"

The car lurched to a sudden stop, with his mother exclaiming and father grumbling slightly. Alfred didn't care; he was furiously rolling down the window. Sticking his head out, he hollered down the street.

"Hey, Yao! HEY!"

The three Asians who had walked by earlier paused and turned around. Yao squinted at the car.

"...Alfred?"

The blond in question was busily unbuckling his seatbelt so he could lean ever further out the window.

"I need to find Maddie Williams' house! You know where it is?"

The Chinese boy had retraced his steps, his siblings trailing behind him curiously. Yao gazed at him quizzically. "Who?"

"She's that girl with blond hai-OW!" Alfred knocked the back of his head on the roof of the car in his excitement. "She hangs around that guy all the time!"

He rubbed his head and pointed at HK, who reluctantly lifted up one side of his headphones. Yao slowly turned to look at his brother.

"What?"

"Can you say anything more than one syllable long?" Alfred was beginning to feel very irritated. This was his last shot for the night to find Maddie. Weren't Asians supposed to be the smart ones?

Suddenly, HK hitched his thumb back to where they had come from. "71 Beaverton Road."

"Finally! Thank you!" Alfred made to duck his head back through the window, then paused. "Oh, hey. I don't know you, but I'm Al."

The girl just stared for a moment, then giggled and blushed. "I'm Tian Wei..."

"Okay, cool. Sorry, gotta go! Important hero stuff to do!" Forgetting to duck again, Alfred's head made contact with the car frame for the second time. "Aw, dude!"

There was a short but loud argument within the vehicle before it made a U-turn and drove away. The Wangs watched it leave.

"Gege, is he your friend?"

"Not really. He's just a friendly person." HK secured his headphones back in place. "Let's go, I'm hungry."

Tian Wei curled her arm around his elbow and continued pestering him, eyes wide. "But is he in your class? What grade is he in? Does he have a girlfriend?"

"No. Ten. I don't know. What's it to you?"

"Ohh...just curious, that's all..."

Yao blinked again and finally broke out of his stupor. Finding himself nearly ten paces behind his brother and sister, he hastily began ran after them.

"Hey! What the hell was that all about, aru?"

* * *

><p>Mrs. Williams busied herself with clearing the plates as Maddie tried to get more out of her father.<p>

"So...you're saying that I might have a brother...well, another brother?"

Gabriel, a little bored of the roundabout conversation that had occured for the entire duration of their meal, had escaped to the living room to watch TV. Mr. Williams leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"I really don't know, Maddie," he said. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he shrugged apologetically. "It was just small talk as they told us about you. Nothing really important."

Her expression must have given something away, because he coughed abruptly. "Not that I'm saying that those who are biologically connected to you aren't important, it's just that we didn't consider it to be at the time..."

"Oh, no! Um, I get it," she assured him. "It's just that, uhh..."

Maddie couldn't think of any possible way to explain the entire 'deal' she had made with Alfred. She couldn't even think of a way to introduce the topic of Alfred himself. Oh hey dad, it's all good. I already know who this mystery brother probably is, no biggie.

Mr. Williams looked at her in concern. "Maddie...sweetheart?"

She looked up with a start - apparently she had trailed off mid-sentence to stare off into space, her eyes glazed over. No, really. She could not think of any way to explain...

The ringing of their doorbell rescued her from having to do so. Mr. Williams pushed himself away from the table, preparing himself to answer it.

Maddie found herself following him towards the front door. Gabriel stuck his head out as they passed him.

"Who's that?"

"I don't know," Mr. Williams replied. The surprise in his voice was clear. "We're not expecting anybody."

Just as he turned the doorknob, Maddie suddenly knew who was on the other side.

* * *

><p>71 Beaverton Road. Alfred hopped out of the car, noting already the little red and white flag sticker on the mailbox. Definitely the right place.<p>

His parents followed him cautiously up the driveway. They still thought he was being too ridiculous. Standing on the welcome mat, Alfred's finger froze just before it hit the tiny button. Was he? As soon as they saw Maddie, they would believe him right away. But what if nobody was home...well, he'd look like a prize idiot, that's for sure.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones finally made it up the steps and were hovering behind him apprehensively. Alfred hesitated again. Yeah, the house was awfully quiet...

Then, he nearly jumped at the sudden noise of somebody within switching on the television set. Emboldened, Alfred pressed the buzzer firmly.

"Come on, come on, come on," he whispered.

His finger was still pushed against the button when the door swung inwards, revealing Mr. Williams and his daughter.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones gasped in unison when they saw the spitting image of their son in the girl standing in front of them. Mr. Williams stared at this all too familiar looking boy who was still ringing his doorbell.

Alfred finally gave the bell a rest to point dramatically at Maddie. "See! I told you!"

Nobody said anything, the shock of it all still scalding the air. Maddie was gaping at the Joneses in a mixture of disbelief and horror as Alfred threw himself at her, enveloping her in a big hug.

It was like the sudden contact broke the tension, and the adults began to babble.

"I don't believe it-"

"And you must be-"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, we should introduce our-"

"Jacob, what's going o..."

Maddie's mother appeared in the hallway. Gabriel came to stand next to her, munching on a butter tart - which he nearly choked on upon seeing Alfred.

Mr. Williams laughed, gesturing the Joneses to step inside. "A sort of miracle, it seems."

Alfred smirked, slinging one arm around Maddie's shoulder. She was still reeling from the total spontanaeity of it all.

Mrs. Williams' hands flew up to her face, trying to hide her astonishment. "Is that...I mean, oh my..."

"Oh, we think so," Alfred's father said. "If, of course, you two also..."

"Why yes, in fact!"

"Dude, that's a little creepy." Alfred said to Maddie. "They already can communicate without saying anything...Who're you?"

Gabriel had walked over to them. Frowning, his eyes darted back and forth between the two remarkably alike people.

"Gabey, Alfred. Alfred, Gabriel." Maddie shrugged, and Alfred's elbow bounced on her shoulder. "This is my brother."

Alfred grinned like the Cheshire cat. "Cool! I'm also her brother!"

Gabriel stared at the two with a mix of incredulity and horror, which only could make Maddie laugh. Alfred laughed too.

Mrs. Williams shook her head. "They even sound similar. Uncanny. Well, we're all very lucky that I made double helpings of dessert."

"Dessert before dinner? Definitely the best day ever!" Alfred willingly followed the adults into the dining room, dragging Maddie along by the wrist.

Hours later, after Alfred and his parents had finally left ("Tomorrow, you have school and we haven't even had a proper meal!"), many stories and speculations had been passed around ("Perhaps there really is such a thing as fate...") and of course, a complete polishing off of butter tarts, Maddie finally crept back up to her room. Sitting at her desk, she couldn't bring herself to finish her homework - too much had happened in one night.

Kuma wandered over and sat down on her textbook, pretending not to notice her.

Maddie flopped onto her bed instead, looking at the ceiling. All the anxiety of the past week was now alleviated. She counted her rediscovered blessings: she had two awesome parents, one great brother, another...kind-of-great brother, currently a little disgruntled, and two friendly not-really relations. From now on, life was going to be very, very different.

She rolled over, and even to her own mild surprise, drifted off to sleep right away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hooray! Everything's sorted out now. But that doesn't mean this story is over. Nope, not for a while.**

**The Chinese siblings keep on showing up in this story, don't they? Well...I like them a lot, so sue me :3**

**Happy holidays! Do me a favour for the season and R&R, please =D It's so much easier to write when you have feedback.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Oh…hi there, reader! This is rather awkward...to suddenly show up out of nowhere with an update…**

**GUYS I'M REALLY SORRY**

**I've gotten so bad at updating on time to the point where I feel that talking about how busy I am in real life sounds like a lame excuse (and it probably is, since I was pretty busy last year but managed to have WWS out every week without fail). So instead, I'll just apologize yet another time and give you a new chapter. TT-TT**

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
><strong>**No Exit belongs to Jean-Paul Sartre.**

* * *

><p>Arthur tapped his pencil against his binder impatiently. He was always feeling impatient now, it seemed. This is why he preferred to do things on his own – every time he was forced to finish a project that required other people to participate, it was so much harder to make sure things would get done.<p>

When he was younger, during one of his many trips to the library, he'd found an interesting term referring to British foreign relations, back in its imperial days. Splendid isolation. Arthur had adopted this as his secret motto, having British background himself. And quite frankly, he liked the concept - depending on other people was a right pain in the arse.

He hadn't even noticed how his pencil tapping was now doubled in speed, making tiny, irritating, tack-tack-tack sounds against the plastic. His shoulders were tense, mind racing, preparing the long lecture that he would present to his peers the instant they appeared…

"Oh hey, it's you."

Arthur dropped his pencil. For all his impatience, it still startled him when people did show up. HK crouched down, picked it up and placed it on the desk.

"Er…hi. Are you here for the meeting?"

HK shrugged. "Well. Sure, I guess. I don't really have anything to do." Before Arthur could say anything, the Asian had pulled out a chair and plopped down.

"What do you know about the theatre?"

"Nothing."

"…What?"

HK, having slung his messenger bag onto a desk and now rummaging through it, paused to blink at Arthur. "Nothing," he repeated. "But I learn fast. And I'm good at anything I want to be good at."

The boys stared at each other for a second, the implicit challenge hanging in the air between them. Arthur's fingers tightened ever so slightly around the pencil.

"Fine," Arthur finally said. And with that, the tension broke. HK automatically returned to rooting through his bag, finally pulling out his cell phone, and Arthur leaned back in his seat, sighing.

It would be another five awkward and antagonising minutes before anyone else arrived. When two other boys finally strolled in, Arthur had resumed pencil-tapping.

The first boy raised his hands in defence as soon as he saw Arthur's annoyed expression. "Hey, man. There was this massive crush in the hallway. And Tackett kept us back late, okay?"

Arthur sighed. "Alright. HK, this is Sanun Rattanakosin and Arun Singh. They're on my team as the designer and stage manager of my show, respectively."

"Which you haven't even won the proposal for yet," Arun had to cut in as Sanun smiled and shook HK's hand. "Are you sure the faculty will let you do this one? It's got about three people who've gone to Hell, for crying out loud. It's got like, affairs and dead babies and _lesbians_…"

Arthur folded his arms. "They have to. Nobody else is proposing, are they? And, I say censorship's got to stop at this age, if not sooner. It's hardly any worse than what's on the curriculum for AP English Literature, from what my brother's told me…who the hell are you?"

The boys all turned to stare at the teenage girl standing at the door, one hand raised to knock. Maddie took a step back in surprise; it wasn't often that four people noticed her at the same time.

"Oh, that's my friend, Maddie," HK piped up. "I told her to come."

Arthur grimaced. "...This is a meeting. Unless she intends to join us on the production team, we can't have random people walking in whenever they wish."

"But she's totally up for helping. Right, Maddie?" HK stared at her expectantly.

Maddie shot him a funny look. Arthur merely sighed again and motioned her to sit down. So Maddie sat. After a quick round of introductions, it was established that the freshmen present hadn't any previous experience in the theatre, Arthur dropped his pencil.

"Okay," he said. "Just be prepared for any task given to you. Madeleine, you can work with Arun as an assistant stage manager. It's a difficult and work-heavy job anyway. I know, I did it last year."

Arun nodded. Arthur scratched his nose and looked down at his notes, frowning. "And as much as I hate to say it, we don't have anybody working on tech right now, since Gregory left last year…"

"I'll do it."

Arthur frowned at HK. "You don't know anything about tech."

"But I told you that I learn fast." HK had his notebook again. "I might not know technical stuff about theatre, but I know technology in general and I can get it done. I _can_."

Maddie, Arun and Sanun sat there awkwardly as the two had another intense stare down. Finally, Arthur picked up his pencil and wrote down his name.

"Whatever, tech director it is. I'll have to teach you, and that takes more time…"

* * *

><p>It turned out that only ten more minutes were needed to wrap up the little meeting. As HK went over to accost Arthur about figuring out when they could have their little tech sessions, Arun made his way over to Maddie.<p>

"Welcome to the team!" He shook her hand rather formally and smiled in a very dignified manner. "We'll have a good time working together. I'm glad you showed up."

The words slipped out before she could stop herself. "Wait, really?"

Arun nodded. "Yes, actually. Since you're just starting, and I have to leave next year. Then at least someone else in this school has stage managing skills. Also, I have other responsibilities, so I'd need someone to fill in for rehearsals if I can't make it."

"Oh, where are you going?"

"My sister is probably going to university in India, and my parents want to move us all back." Arun picked up his bag. "See you around, Maddie!"

He trotted out the door behind Arthur, who was practically bolting. HK sidled over to her, looking quite satisfied.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Getting an after-school activity for a future college resume," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's like…" They wandered into the now mostly-empty hall. "You're deliberately picking on that guy for some reason. I think he wants to be left alone."

HK stuck out his chin in defiance. "So? He's supposed to be my mentor-person or whatever. We're supposed to spend time with each other. Anyway…" His voice trailed off, expression turning thoughtful. "There's something really weird and fascinating about how obsessed he gets over the stuff he actually likes. It's really different."

Maddie was just about to point out that _her_ mentor had pretty much forgotten about her when a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere, clapping hard onto her right shoulder.

"Hey, lil' sis!" Alfred didn't seem to realize he was almost shouting into her ear. "Whatcha doin' back here so late?"

She rubbed the side of her head, in hopes of making a point, but Alfred was notorious for being unable to read the atmosphere. "We had some sort of…theatre meeting."

Alfred blinked. "Like…with Arthur Kirkland?" A strange expression flew over his face, and then disappeared just as quickly as it had showed. "That guy's kind of a loony, y'know."

Maddie looked at HK, who wasn't paying attention. Yong Soo was bounding over to the three of them, looking excited.

"Hey, we just did the tryouts for basketball!" He resembled a bit of a basketball himself, still bouncing up and down on his toes. "I'm so sure I'll get in, da ze! After all, basketball is the sport of Koreans…"

Alfred laughed. "Yeah, you did pretty good, I'd say. B Boys are gonna be tight this year!" He poked Maddie. "You play?"

"No."

"Aw, come on. Let's go to my house and I'll help you.…"

"Um." He had grabbed her shoulders and was now pushing her away from HK and Yong Soo, calling goodbye as they walked away. "I would really…"

Alfred wasn't even listening. "And we'll take your bike again 'cause I still only have a permit and anyway it's not that far. Dude, I can't believe you still haven't even been to my house! It's awesome, there's still the swing from when I was little and we got a pool in the back…"

* * *

><p>Maddie didn't get a single word in edgeways all the way to Alfred's (which was once again accommodated by another haphazard bicycle trip marked by close encounters with death), but she did appreciate his enthusiasm, to an extent. It was true; they'd been aware of their…relationship for over a month now, but it was always more of Alfred randomly showing up at the Williams' instead. Gabriel's irritation had worn off after a week of Alfred appearing every other day, and the boys had bonded over poutine. Alfred seemed to do that a lot, bonding over food.<p>

Mrs. Jones had welcomed her warmly, but seconds after dropping off her bag in the living room, Alfred had ushered her back out into the crisp afternoon or early fall. Maddie stood at the end of his driveway, staring at him lightly toss the orange-and-black ball between his hands, _still_ talking a mile a minute.

"Okay, so even if you said you don't play at all, you don't have to worry! I've been playing since I was like, this high. And just because you're short doesn't mean you're gonna suck, because I've met short but crazy awesome people who play b-ball. Being tall just helps. So basically, the easiest way to score is a layup. Like, if you do it right, it'll go in every time!"

He stepped to the side. "So, if you're gonna do it from the right, you're going to step out with your right foot, then left, then right and HOP and flick to the corner and it'll be like BAM IT'S IN! Easy!"

To Maddie, all this was completely unintelligible. She watched blankly as Alfred right-left-right-hop-flicked to get a perfect swish into the net.

"Got it?"

"Uh…" She squeaked a bit as he passed the ball to her, running a bit to retrieve it before it went into the street. "…Not really."

"Aw, that's okay! I'll do it with you!" Alfred was way too excited to pass along his basketball skills to someone else. "Stand over here with me."

Maddie walked over with the ball, feeling a bit idiotic. Alfred's neighbourhood, luckily, was very quiet with a nice amount of space between each house, so at least nobody was watching. He grinned at her and indicated his right hand.

"When you dribble, change it from hand to hand with your feet…but when you get to the hop, grab and shoot!" He pointed at the headboard. "Aim for that corner, and it'll go straight in."

It looked really high. Alfred nudged her. "Just do it once."

Fine. Maddie sighed, squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to follow instructions…

"Ow!"

Something heavy hit her nose, and her glasses were suddenly poking really hard and too close to her eyeball. It was so unexpected that she stumbled backwards and nearly fell over, only throwing out a hand to catch herself at the last second. The concrete was bumpy and scratched against her palm.

"Whoa!" Maddie heard the slap of Alfred's sneakers chasing after the ball before he ran back to her, panting a little. "You okay?"

"Owww." She removed her glasses. No blood, that was a good sign. But her eye was still throbbing and there was dirt all over her stinging hand.

Alfred tugged on her arm. "Ooookay. Let's siddown for now…"

A few minutes later, she was pressing a wet towel against her new scrape and Alfred busily arranged their glasses of lemonade around the plate of cookies Mrs. Jones set up for them.

"Hey, sorry about that. But no pain, no gain, right? We'll get it next time!"

Maddie watched as his hoodie sleeve, having been pushed up all the way to his bicep, drooped back down to his wrist, almost knocking over one of the lemonades. "I don't know…Arun made it sound like stage managing will make things really busy for a while."

Alfred paused for a moment. "Oh, the theatre thing with Arthur?" He looked at the cookies for a few seconds before grabbing three at once. "Oh, yeah. I totally get it. That's cool, man."

The way he chomped on his first cookie seemed to say something different. Maddie gingerly picked up her glass of lemonade.

Maybe it would be a while before she'd come back to the Jones residence.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I kinda wanna play basketball again. We did that all summer when I was little…Those who are unfamiliar/don't remember: Sanun is Thailand and Arun (brand new!) is India, of course.**

**I'll confide one thing to you: I'd actually slaved over a completely different chapter for weeks, hated it, and rewrote it to become THIS in a fortnight. My writing has been all over the place lately. I've been doing all sorts of stuff – fluffy, angsty, tragic, comedic, cracky, crossover…also, this past month had me writing a bunch of original stories to submit to the annual literary journals of my university. One got accepted! TT-TT The others had deadlines much later, so I haven't heard back yet. So I'll just keep my fingers crossed .**

**Hopefully, I'll be able to settle my scattered ideas down in one place. Thank you for your patience!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello everyone, sorry that this once again has taken forever to update. I'm going to stop promising things because I feel like such a jerk when I don't fulfill them…but I will always say I'm sorry because I am. Sigh. But allow me to insist that I still have very strong feelings for my stories on this website, and I have NO intention at all to leave any unfinished. It just…may take a really long time. I'm sorry.**

**Note before you read – the actors in this play are all human OCs as I am seriously running out of nations that I know stuff about. Forgive me for this!**

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
><strong>**No Exit belongs to Jean-Paul Sartre.  
><strong>**Green Lantern belongs to DC Comics.**

* * *

><p>Maddie watched quietly at the three students at the front of the classroom. She was perched on a desk that had, like many of its companions, been shoved up against the wall in order to make space. Only Arthur and Arun had the luxury of actually being seated, as they needed to write notes and blocking into their scripts – except Arthur too was on his feet, sleeves rolled up and scrutinizing his actors with the utmost concentration.<p>

"Suppose I try to be your glass?" One of the actors, a short but curvy Hispanic girl, beckoned from her seat on the left. "Come and pay me a visit, dear. Here's a place for you on my sofa."

Arun signalled Maddie to come over as the other girl moved across the space. He handed her a sheet of paper and spoke in low tones.

"This is the list of props we need. I know we're kind of just giving you any random job…but could you do us a huge favour and help Sanun look for some? For this play, it's actually very specific."

Maddie squinted at Arthur's spidery handwriting. "Okay, I get that we need a blue couch, because that's in the script…but just to check: by 'for this play, it's specific' you actually mean, 'for Arthur, it's specific.'"

He flashed her a charming smile. "You're learning fast!"

One would have to be extremely slow on the uptake to _not_ learn Arthur's directorial style fast enough. He worked like a man obsessed. When they had finally won the proposal at the end of last term, Maddie had initially been bewildered and even, at certain moments, a bit frightened at how quick he was to bark at people. Then she'd discovered this bark had very little bite – when he'd asked for her opinion after the first round of auditions, Maddie found it pleasantly surprising that he took her comments quite seriously, and wasn't above using them to make a final decision. Now after weeks of rehearsal, everybody had gotten used to his manic work ethic. Arthur was merely extremely passionate. But occasionally too sentimental, or socially awkward.

"He's had issues," HK said bluntly as they were leaving rehearsal one afternoon.

"What kind of issues?"

"Personal issues."

Instead of looking smug about knowing what exactly these issues were about, HK looked more like he wanted to avoid the topic. So Maddie stopped. All the incessant badgering had finally paid off for HK. He'd more than proved his claim to pick up skills easily, prompting Arthur to make him his unofficial theatre buddy. They'd even gone to see a couple of professional shows together. It was a strange combination, but both of them deserved a friend…no matter how seemingly random the match was.

In the present, Maddie smiled back and pocketed the list. Arthur glanced at the clock and put up a hand.

"Okay. That's all we can do today. Emilia wins the prize today for being most memorized, but all of you have to be off-book by next Friday! Or I'll kick you out of the show."

Everybody rolled their eyes. They knew this was a hollow threat, even if the play would open in one month and a half. Arthur continued to ramble.

"I'm also thinking of sectionals again for the monologues, since last month we didn't rehearse as often. But crunch time is going to be here and before you know it, we won't have time for details. So Cassie, could you tell me when you can schedule…"

Sensing that the communal aspect of the rehearsal was finally over, everybody else broke into a shuffling buzz as they collected scripts, shifted backpacks and began to arrange the desks back into a classroom formation. Arun nodded half-attentively to Maddie as she gestured her leaving, busy writing down Cassie's availability on the prompt book's calendar page.

HK was pushing the last desk into place. "Wait up, I'll go with you."

By the time they actually exited the classroom, pretty much everyone else was ready as well. The actors wandered off, calling goodbye over their shoulders. Arun flipped off the light switch as Arthur pored over the prompt script, his perfectionist tendencies taking over the trust he had in his stage manager.

"Yo, Maddie!"

The call echoed down the corridor. HK and Maddie peered over to see Alfred bouncing over to them, swinging a basketball from one hand in its carrying-net. His winter coat was unzipped, revealing his sweat-stained team jersey ("Ew," breathed HK) beneath, and his sneakers squeaked upon the tiles.

"Hi," she said when he finally reached them, panting slightly. The two had barely seen each other for the past few months. It wasn't that they didn't like each other – definitely, definitely not. But between Alfred's basketball and Maddie's play…no time. No time at all. And these spheres of school activity rarely ever crossed paths. In fact, Maddie could not think of a single event that would bring them to.

He grinned down at her and squeezed her up in a bear hug. Choosing to ignore the sweatiness, Maddie hugged back – also ignoring HK's faint noises of grossed-out-ness behind her.

"What's up?"

"Hey. I need to talk to you about something. Something kinda impor…whoops." The strings of the basketball net had slipped through his fingers, and the ball plummeted to the floor, bouncing a few times before rolling away.

"You klutz," she sighed, going after it. Unfortunately, Arthur was still reading. Not only was he reading very intently, but he was also trying to walk as he read, so he didn't even notice the ball rolling in his direction until it was too late.

"Wha-ULP!"

It was almost like a cartoon. Arthur tripped over the basketball. Though he staggered to the left, flailing slightly to regain his balance, the prompt script went flying, papers and notes going everywhere. There was a loud _clang_ as Arthur's hand smacked against a locker door, and an ungainly slide as he slipped on one of the fallen papers.

Maddie was completely taken by surprise. Alfred threw back his head and laughed, while HK hid his own smile and scrambled to help pick up the pages.

Arthur managed to right himself up, fuming. "Shut up, you stupid – you – git – I could – you –"

Alfred shrugged, betraying absolutely no shame. "Nothing personal. It was just funny."

"Nothing perso…hmmph." Arthur shot him the most venomous glare Maddie had ever seen in her entire life. Without another word, he stalked down the hall, leaving HK to scurry after him with the rest of the script. The Asian mouthed goodbye over his shoulder as he jogged to keep up with Arthur's long legs.

Alfred's expression softened slightly as soon as Arthur was out of view. "Man. I can never catch a break."

It seemed to take him a few seconds to remember that Maddie was standing next to him, still waiting awkwardly for this so-called important news. He even did a double take upon turning round to see her staring up at him.

"Oh, yeah. Hey, can we go somewhere?"

And as such, they were once again seated at the Burger Barn. Alfred toyed with his fries, squirming a little bit. He'd hardly said a word on the trip over, which was the strangest thing ever. Maddie was willing to acknowledge that they hadn't spent a good amount of time together in months, but surely such a major personality switch could have occurred within that time.

Alfred suddenly dropped the fry and sighed, propping his elbows onto the tabletop and dropping his chin into his hands.

"So. Basically. We got this really…random…call. Yesterday."

He paused and wrinkled his nose, making it wiggle to and fro. Maddie continued to sit, confused.

"So, okay. My dad answers it. And the person says they wanna talk to me. So of course, he goes, okay, who is this? And – and she says…she's my mom."

Maddie's mouth fell open.

"What?"

"Wait, I'm not done." Alfred picked up the same fry and began to fiddle with it again. "So of course, he also was all, what? And she talked for a long time. I was standing _right there_ but he just listened to her and kept on going, 'Uh huh. Yes. Mmhmm.' It was driving me nuts. Then he finally let me talk to her…"

"Yeah? So what'd she say?" Maddie was leaning across the table by now, desperate to know the rest.

"So I said…'Hi, I'm Al' and she said, 'I know' and…" Alfred dropped the fry again and slouched back in his seat. "Her name is Evelyn Miller. She works as an air hostess so her work is going to bring her here in a week or something…apparently she was looking for us recently?"

"Recently? Why not before?" Maddie was surprised at the irritation in her voice. Alfred shrugged.

"I dunno. Her voice is kind of high, but scratchy at the same time. You get what I mean?" He picked up the fry for a third time, and poked it into his ice cream. "I told her about you. I mean, I had to. Right? And she was all like, 'Oh! That makes things so easier!' and also said something about see, it was destined for us to all meet again…"

"So she wants to meet us?"

Alfred paused and looked at Maddie, a rare look of seriousness on his face. "Well. Yeah. My parents said okay. They said you should tell your parents too."

Maddie swallowed and nodded. "O-okay. I mean, yes. Of course."

"And I told them – and her – that…I'm only going to go if you go. Legit. Do you want to?"

Her head was reeling. This was even crazier than finding out you were adopted. "Uh."

"Nah man, take your time. She's somewhere in like….Mexico or something right now anyway." The poor little fry was finally put out of its suffering as Alfred popped it into his mouth, his appetite having returned after letting his burden off his chest. "But, tell your parents tonight. They'll probably wanna talk to mine. We could come over and all talk about it. And stuff."

"Yeah."

He stopped eating and looked at her again. "And look, I'm really sorry we haven't hung in like, forever. Hope you don't think I'm just being really douchey or…"

"No! It's fine. I'm busy. You're busy." She tried to look unconcerned, shrugging a little bit.

Alfred sighed with obvious relief. "Ooookay. Thank god. I swear by Oan Guardians of the Universe, I'm gonna see your play too. If Arthur lets me, that is."

"Okay. I have no idea what that is, but thanks. And what's with your beef with him?"

"I…uh…ask him. I'm not gonna talk about it."

"Yeah, that'll work." But she dropped it. There was only so much to wrap your head around, especially with what had gone down in the past few minutes.

Evelyn Miller. Their birth mother. She'd found them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, I'll briefly update on cool things that have happened to me…I finished my last undergraduate winter term EVER! (but still have a summer course to go), and recently got published in one of my university's literary journals! Unpaid but it's rather prestigious and very official =D It's an original short story. You can see me holding up the book and grinning like a maniac on my LiveJournal xDD **

**I actually have been trying to write a lot of original stuff lately, which is probably why it's been harder to update these stories. But I actually feel that this AU is more than 50% my own creation, you know? I'm struggling a bit with how to balance character growth with being IC…I want to write about these characters' futures, but things will have happened to them that inevitably changes relationship dynamics, influences thought process, and of course, brings about the maturity that naturally occurs over time. I just don't want to be chewed out by someone for being "OOC"…if anyone has opinions or advice, I'd love to hear it because it's been bothering me.**

**Also! Since I am now really involved in the LJ fandom (which I admit probably also detracts from updating here, sorry…), I would like to do a little plug for the Fan-made Easter Event! Since our dear Himaruya is extremely busy and has taken a hiatus from the internet, we decided to host our own holiday event. We have already begun; find us on Blogspot or Tumblr as "hetaliaupdateeventproject"! There will be mystery, magic, cultural tidbits, request filling, and maybe even some ficlets written by yours truly at certain points…:3**

**Oh wow, this is a really ridiculous amount of author notes. I apologize for the millionth time. This was just a "step" chapter, to enable one part of the plot to reach a new area…next time we'll have MUCH more action! **

**Thank you for still reading. I really, really, appreciate it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hello there, yes, this story is still alive! I know I don't really update in record time anymore, but let me assure you that if I begin a story here, I will not abandon it. I'm also still extremely invested in this little AU I have here. So just saying…don't worry. I acknowledge that I've become kind of flaky, but I'm not THAT flaky! That being said, thank you for sticking around!**

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
><strong>

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><p>Maddie played around with the zipper on her hoodie. The rain continued to pelt the window relentlessly, but she was safe on the other side of the large glass panel. Alfred had ran off to the washroom, leaving her alone at the table. The waitress had already refilled her cup of coffee. Maddie wriggled her shoulders, stretching the hoodie to allow for just an inch more sleeve space, pulling her hands beneath the hem and hooking her fingers around the seams. With just the tips of her thumbs peeking out, she wrapped her sleeve-covered palms around the coffee mug and squinted out the window.<p>

There was no indication of a woman approaching the diner through the drops of water. Maddie sighed.

Both sets of parents, Williams and Jones alike, had been anxious about this meeting. Even more so than herself and Alfred had been, at least on the surface. Maddie was impressed by Alfred's display of nonchalance, though the fact that he was being so cool about it was the key to understanding his own uncertainty. The car ride over had been conducted in silence. Sure, Al did need to pay a tad more attention to the road in this weather, but his tight grip on the steering wheel hinted at something different.

"So, can we safely say that I inherited my excellent timing skills from her then? Huh?"

Almost on cue, he reappeared, sliding next to her onto the bench and craning his neck. Searching for maybe a flash of blonde hair.

"You know…because I'm always late…"

"Yeah, I got that. Thanks for ruining the joke." Maddie grinned, in spite of herself. "Maybe she's stuck in traffic."

"Maybe. This rain sucks, man." Alfred picked up a menu. "Would it be really rude of me to get food already? I'm so hungry."

Just as he said this, the tiny bell above the door chimed. For such a slow day, with such a sloth-like atmosphere, the sound pierced the air and every head turned. Alfred even dropped the menu and pushed himself up from the back of the seat, looking hopeful.

An old man shook the raindrops from his coat and hung it up on the coat rack. "Thanks," he grunted as another waitress offered him a seat at a different booth.

Alfred sat down, disappointed. Maddie opened her mouth to reassure him when the bell chimed again.

A young woman tripped indoors, panting slightly. The small wheeled suitcase toted behind her looked drenched in rain. With a bit of difficulty, she closed and folded up her small polka-dotted umbrella, stepping daintily to one side in order to avoid sprinkling water all over the navy blue pencil skirt and matching high heels.

She had golden-blonde hair that was swept up into a neatly braided bun. As the waitress hurried over to greet the newest customer, the woman turned her head, revealing the same baby blue eyes and upturned, impertinent nose.

"I think that's her," Maddie whispered.

"She's got our face," breathed Alfred.

Evelyn Miller smiled a thank you as the waitress gestured towards their booth. The smile widened as she spotted Alfred and Maddie huddled together with their mugs of coffee. The click-clacking of her heels and the suitcase wheels sang loudly as she made her way towards them.

"Hello, there!"

"Hi!" Alfred chirped. Maddie stared.

Maddie measured to be quite above average and Alfred was clearly one of the taller boys at school, but Evelyn couldn't have been more than 5"4. Everything about her was slender and petite. The siblings watched as manicured fingers deftly closed down the collapsible handle of the suitcase, removed the black purse from Evelyn's shoulders, and delicately took a steady hold upon the laminated tabletop as she settled herself down across from them.

"You must be Alfred," she continued smiling. "And Maddie, of course."

"Yup," Alfred answered before Maddie could regain her senses.

"I can't tell you how relieved I was when I found out you two were okay with meeting here. There's just so many weird horror stories about reuniting with parents. But I'm not one of the mean ones, I promise!"

"Okay," Alfred said again. He seemed to be eager to fill in the conversation gaps. "Well, like. You're an air hostess, right? Did you just get off the plane?"

"I did!" Evelyn picked up a menu and began to examine it lazily. "Kingston. Jamaica. One of my favourite stops. It's beautiful – have you ever been?"

"Nah, honestly, I've stayed in the same country my whole life, so far…but Maddie's from Canada! So she's been overseas."

Maddie bit her lip from correcting him – Canada certainly was not separated from the States by any sort of sea. Evelyn dramatically slapped the menu back down on the table.

"Oh, my – I'm so sorry, I'm being so self-centered right now. This was supposed to be about us getting to know each other, and for me to find out how you are…"

"That's okay," Maddie found herself saying. "We want to, uh, know about you too."

Evelyn beamed. "Oh, good. That's good. So about Canada…I want to know everything about since I last saw you."

"Uhhhh." Those last words were hardly ones to ignore, but Maddie felt compelled to stick to the subject. "My parents…moved to Toronto…when I was…two? I think? They had my other – adopted – brother, Gabriel there. Except he was born in Quebec City. I lived in Canada until like, this year. Then I came back."

"And I was here, all the time." Alfred, restless with excitement, leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist. "And I told you on the phone about how we met and stuff. So I do basketball and Maddie does theatre."

"Theatre! Really?"

"Yeah! She's doing a play right now. Called…"

"_No Exit_."

"Yup!"

"Wow, how exciting. I wanted to be an actress too." Evelyn had resumed perusing the menu.

"I'm actually not acting in it, I'm the assistant stage mana-"

"You did? That's so cool!" Alfred grinned, charm turned on full blast. "Why did ya stop?"

Evelyn shrugged. "It was a very competitive field…and things just didn't work out like I hoped it was. I prefer my life as it is right now, though."

"Oh? Sooo…what's that like? 'Cause we wanna know too. I mean, you're like. Our. Mom. That we haven't seen since…uh, forever. You know? Like…how did we all…end up here?" Alfred tried to pose the question as casually as he could, but the awkwardness remained lingering in the air. Maddie kicked him under the table. He grimaced back at her.

Evelyn was quiet for a few seconds. The silence reminded Maddie that it was still raining outside, gentle drops sounding off directly to her right, as if they were curious fingers tapping upon this fascinating scene in their little aquarium – two teenagers and one adult, hands hovering over coffee cups, gripping the table's edge, or hidden in the sleeves of a hoodie.

"Hmmmm." Evelyn exhaled softly. Maddie could feel Alfred squirm a little next to her. Clearly he was feeling a bit guilty for rushing into the topic when only such a bare minimum of conversation had been exchanged. There was no backing out now.

"Let's see. How old are you two right now...fifteen, right? And fourteen? Okay. That was when I was still with Chuck." A nostalgic expression crossed Evelyn's face. "It was Christmas break in my senior year when I found out. Boy, was I mad. He was kind of an idiot, I'm sorry. I don't know why I stayed with him. My parents weren't thrilled either. But they're these really big Catholics, so they refused to let me have an abortion…not that I would, anyway," she hurriedly finished. Alfred's face was inscrutable.

"But it was so hard, having to go to your prom, then your graduation, having absolutely no way of hiding the fact that you're like, seven months along." She frowned for a moment. "And of course, it didn't affect him the way it did for me. It was "

"You were such a beautiful baby," she suddenly sighed. "So healthy and we didn't even have to check whether you were breathing or not, because as soon as you were out you just started wailing like nobody's business."

"You were different though, Maddie," she mused. "Not that you were any less beautiful – of course not – but you were so quiet, and I was so weirded out because it was so different from Alfred's delivery, you know? And oh, the delivery…Alfred just like, popped out of there. You took _hours_."

Maddie didn't know what to say, so she shrugged. For some reason, it wasn't surprising that Alfred had been loud from the second he was born. And that she'd needed more time. It wasn't a problem to take your time.

"So, uh. Do we have the same…father?" Her eyes darted between her brother and her mother.

"Yes. God, I don't know why – but I stayed with Chuck until you were born. You see, the first time around, I didn't feel ready at all to be a mom…I was seventeen, I wanted to do the whole actress thing, and I had no money. Then I stayed with Chuck for another year, got pregnant again and this time it was like, okay. Maybe this will all work out. But as soon as I told him, he tried to ditch responsibility again and I was like, no. So he left. And I thought, this isn't going to work out…so I had to give you up too."

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "Don't be mad at me. But does it make sense that...that I _knew _it would have been better to figure out my life first before raising another's?"

Alfred was still blank, staring downwards at his stained coffee mug. Evelyn looked scared, every muscle in her shoulders tense as she waited for an answer. Realizing that neither of them would initiate conversation, Maddie surprised herself by speaking.

"No. I mean, yes!" she corrected herself. "Yeah, I understand. We…we turned out okay. And you did too, I guess. We're not going to hold it against you. Right, Al?"

"Yeah," he said softly.

Evelyn let out a shaky sigh. "Oh, my god. Thank you. I knew it was going to be weird. But – thank you."

She smiled at her daughter, who smiled back. Alfred looked up and managed a small one.

"So…um." The three of them started as their waitress suddenly appeared at the foot of the table. "Sorry for keeping you guys for so long…have you decided what you want to order?"

"Oh! Yeah. Sure, that's okay." Alfred looked at Maddie. "Ladies first?"

"We have an all-day brunch, just to let you know."

"Oh! Great." Maddie didn't even have to look. "Pancakes and bacon?"

"Typical Canadian," Alfred scoffed. Maddie stuck her tongue out at him, eliciting a laugh from Evelyn. "No, ladies first."

"Alright then," Evelyn smiled. "The scrambled eggs special, please."

"I want eggs too, but sunny side. Can I have brown toast instead? And can you add the brownie to it?" Alfred jabbed at the menu. "Actually, can I have the eggs first then the brownie with ice cream on top, and for the breakfast green salad can it come in its own little bowl so it won't get mixed up in the egg…"

Maddie kicked him again. The waitress just nodded and walked away, probably used to such demands. Outside, the rain had stopped, even just for a moment. Even though the water droplets created a filter of pale shadowy dots, sun poured through the window and filled the diner with light.

"So, like. Evelyn." Alfred sat back in his seat, heartened with the idea of food. "Let me tell you all about us, starting with my totally awesome basketball team this year."

"Can't wait to hear it," she said. Maddie leaned her head against the glass as Alfred launched into excited babble about his coach, teammates, home and away games. In her own head, she began to formulate her own speech – about Canada, rehearsals, tech meetings, HK and Yong Soo...

Because Evelyn said she wanted to know, so she'd tell her everything.

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><p><strong>AN: So now it's out there. I haven't felt so satisfied with my writing in a long time…hooray! Let's hope this means I can get better at updating too. OTL**

**Something interesting that reminded me of this story: I read this super-cool article on a pair of twins adopted by different families. However, the girls' parents had recognized the similarities right away and after a DNA check, agreed to raise them 'as sisters', even if they had different parents. It was fascinating. Just thought I'd share it with you all C:**

**Also, if anyone is interested, I finally caved and got a tumblr. It's webcomixwastaken since, well. Webcomix was taken. All it really has though are Spamano reblogs, Hong Kong nostalgia spam and repeated reminders of my reignited obsession with **_**Les Miserables**_**. Come say hi to me there!**

**Thank you once again! We'll be wrapping this up shortly. And then I can finally get into another part of their lives that I've been formulating since like, forever. o3o **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Last chapter! Amazing! For anyone who missed theatre shenanigans and the Bad Friends…well. I shan't spoil anything. **

**Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
><strong>**No Exit belongs to Jean-Paul Sartre.  
><strong>"**Most Beautiful Girl in the Room" belongs to Flight of the Conchords.**

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><p>"Wow. That's incredible."<p>

The cast and crew of _No Exit_ were lounging about on the comfy couches in the green room. Three very successful shows had filled them with confidence – and a bit of laziness, since the actors were chatting leisurely with Maddie and other techies instead of doing one of Arthur's rigorous pre-show warm-ups. Their perfectionist director was outside counting tickets. A decent audience had never failed to show up each night, but Arthur had declared it was better to be safer than sorry. Quite frankly, everyone else didn't really mind that he was puttering around being nervous outside, because they were enjoying the relaxing atmosphere backstage.

Arun sighed thoughtfully and placed interlaced fingers behind his head. "So she was how old when she had you guys?"

"Seventeen with Al, I think…so like, eighteen for me?"

"Man. But hey, you know what? That's a pretty standard story for teenage pregnancies and stuff."

Everybody nodded. It wasn't often that Maddie was placed in the centre of attention, but all the people involved in the play had been utterly fascinated by her story. In the midst of the craziness of tech week and dress runs, it had been the main subject of conversation between them. Maddie didn't mind. For one thing, it wasn't really such a crazy story, as Arun had just pointed out, and…theatre had a funny way of bringing people together. Two or three months ago, she hardly knew any of these people, and they had been completely unaware of her existence. Now she felt perfectly fine with sharing her weird life story with them.

"She's an air hostess?"

"Yup."

"_You're so beautiful_," Sanun suddenly began to sing. "Y_ou could be a waitress! You're so beautiful, you could be an air hostess in the sixties…_"

Arun gave him a half-hearted kick, narrowly missing the box of doughnuts somebody had ordered to share (it was nearly empty anyway). "Shut up."

"Aw, come on. Flight of the Conchords!" Sanun shot him his customary grin. "Y_ou're so beautiful, you could be a part, time, model!...But you'd probably have to keep your normal job._"

Everybody laughed, Maddie included.

"Actually, she might come," she revealed. "She said she might be on a flight coming here, this weekend."

"Ooh, that would be cool!" Emilia, who was playing Inez, spoke up. "I really want to see how much she looks like you and Al."

"A lot, actually. It's really uncanny."

"_Part time model!_"

HK poked his head in.

"The king of the universe would like to know why he doesn't hear vocal warm-ups reverberating off of the theatre walls," he informed them. "As well as to why the booth is void of people. These are his exact words, except just not as freaked out-sounding."

Arun groaned and hoisted himself out of the armchair. "It's like, forty minutes until the door opens. On the last night. What does he want us to do? All that's going to happen is that we'll be chatting in the house seats instead of here."

HK shrugged. Maddie got up as well. Her role required being backstage, but Arun was right. Might as well hang out with the rest of the crew. To be completely honest, Maddie really didn't want to be by herself right now. If she did, the restless churning of her mind would drive her crazy. What if Evelyn actually did come to the play? Alfred said he would be there tonight too. It would be…so surreal. Her parents hadn't officially met her yet, as the meeting in the diner had been a private affair between children and mother. It was such a daunting thought. Maddie needed something to distract her.

"_Spend part of your time modelling, and part of your time, next to meeeeeeee…_"

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><p>Maddie leaned against the frame of her little ASM stall. Located just behind the right hand wings of the stage, she was in a prime position to watch the show, but still hidden out of sight. All of Arthur's fears had proved to be false, for the play was nearly at its end without a single hitch occurring.<p>

"I can't endure it any longer, I'm through with you both!"

She could see the three actors shuffling about, going through the motions of the fight choreography perfectly. Maddie would have watched, but as it was the fourth time (not including all the rehearsals, even) she'd seen it, she decided to focus her eyes upon the audience instead.

Unfortunately, the only part of the seats even partially illuminated was the front row, and Maddie could only recognize a gaggle of sophomore girls seated there instead. She assumed that Evelyn, if she was even there, would be sitting with Alfred. Maddie sighed and rested an elbow on top of her copy of the prompt script next to her. Did Alfred introduce her to his parents? Hers? To be honest, she wasn't even sure if Mr. and Mrs. Jones would be there…

"Okay, getting ready for the spot on the door soon. Ready? Maddie, is Haley in her place?"

"Huh? Oh!" Maddie scrambled to readjust her headset. It was her only connection to the tech booth, which was really important in order to hear Arun's orders. "Uhhh, I…think so?"

"Good. Standby light cue thirty-two."

"Standing by," HK replied.

Maddie panicked slightly, squinting into the darkness and trying to discern the shape of the young girl. Inaddition to the three principal parts, there was also an extremely minor role of the valet. This valet didn't appear in the last scene, but it was absolutely necessary for the large door prop onstage to seemingly open on its own. So Haley had been given this task.

There was definitely somebody hovering behind the door, but looked significantly bigger than Haley. And hairier. Maddie opened her mouth to whisper-question the mysterious figure.

"Open the door! Open, will you! I'll put up with any torture that you impose – anything, anything would be better than this agony of the mind. This creeping pain that gnaws and fumbles and caresses one and never hurts quite enough…"

Clarence, the actor playing Garcin, was dramatically pounding on the door. To him, Emilia, Cassie, Arun, HK, Arthur, and everybody else in the audience, what lurked behind it were the infinitesimal corridors and rooms that constituted as the cells of utter Hell, but for Maddie, there was just the backstage and someone who certainly was not allowed to be there. Haley suddenly appeared out of nowhere, gasping for breath.

"I totally forgot…oh my god…sorry, I-"

"NOW, WILL YOU OPEN?" Clarence reached for the doorknob.

He jumped back in surprise as the door swung open. Bathed by the full glare of the fronts, in addition to the spotlight, whoever it was in the bear costume raised their arms and roared loudly.

Emilia and Cassie stood up in alarm. Clarence was still closest, his slack-jawed and eyes wide. The actors' responses were adequate, but they had been expecting a completely empty doorway, foreboding and mysterious. As far as they knew, bears were a rarity in existentialist French drama.

"What the HELL?" Arun's yelp echoed through the headset. "Who is that? How did they get back there?"

"I-I don't know!"

The bear roared again and began to chase Clarence around the stage. The audience burst into gales of laughter. Maddie recognized Alfred's hooting voice over the chaos. A voice in her ear startled her.

"Oh man, look out. Arthur's getting up, and he looks _pissed_. Nice knowin' ya, Maddie."

"W-wait!" she cried, forgetting to keep her voice down. It didn't matter, because the bear was creating quite a lot of noise. Through the wings, Maddie could see it dancing a jig centre stage, in rhythm to the audience's clapping.

It was barely a minute later when there was a loud crash and much swearing coming from the direction of the stage door. Arthur came tearing through, struggling against Francis and Antonio, who looked too greatly amused to be putting up much of a fight.

"You wankers – should have known – ruined my play - !"

Maddie and Haley watched speechlessly as the three boys continued tussling. In the midst of it all, the bear finally pranced through the door and waved flamboyantly at the still-tittering audience before slamming it shut.

Arthur disentangled himself from Francis' restraining arms. "Beilschmidt!"

The head of the costume lifted off quite easily, revealing Gillian's smug grin. "Oh hey, Artyfartypants. Fancy meeting you here."

Arthur glared murderously at her. "I've half a mind to beat your face in right here, Beilschmidt, for ruining what otherwise would have been a perfect run. Were you aware just how difficult it was to convince the faculty to let me put on _No Exit_? The content- "

"Pursued by a bear," Antonio cut in.

"_What?_"

Gillian gestured to herself. "No exit, pursued by a bear! Awesome, right? Get it?"

If it weren't for Francis still holding him back, Arthur would have most certainly thrown himself at the belligerent girl and torn her to pieces. Thankfully, Arun's voice interrupted Maddie's frozen train of thought through the headset.

"Tell them to keep it down! They've kept on going."

"H-hey, you guys," Maddie whispered. Gillian was laughing loudly at Arthur, who had broken free again and was beginning to berate her at a furiously fast pace. "Guys!" She was forced to pry them apart physically.

"Quiet, they can still hear us out there."

"Where were you? Why did you let her backstage?"

"Nobody was at stage left," Gillian said airily. "Yo, totally awesome of you to only have one ASM, Arty. Made it so much easier."

Arthur seemed to deflate at her words. Maddie watched awkwardly as Francis began to shoo his friends towards the stairs back to the foyer.

"Well, well. That's the fun we get for tonight. Let them finish. Au revoir, Madeleine!"

He slung an arm around Arthur's dejected shoulders and waved goodbye to Maddie. Antonio followed cheerfully with Gillian close behind, clutching the bear costume's head in triumph. As the four juniors disappeared, Maddie found herself engulfed in the dark quiet of backstage once again.

* * *

><p>"Congratulations, you're alive!"<p>

Only twenty minutes later, Maddie emerged, blinking into the bright house lights from backstage. The audience milled around in clumps, and she could hear from the snatches of conversation that the exciting last scene was still fresh in everybody's memories. She joined her friends near the tech booth.

"Did you hear them at the end?" HK asked.

Before Maddie could respond, Alfred came bounding forward.

"Where's the bear, where's the bear?" He chanted enthusiastically before hugging her tightly. The audience had given the four actors hearty applause, but many of them had seemed keen to recognize Gillian's impromptu performance as well. Maddie had stood by her ASM stall, listening incredulously at the cheer for the bear. It was clear that Alfred had participated.

"Did Evelyn come?"

"Um."

The look on his face said it all. The fluttery sensation in her stomach subsided. Maddie suddenly felt very empty instead. Her mind couldn't make up whether it was pleased or upset at this turn of events. She reminded herself that Evelyn's presence had always been a huge question mark floating in the air.

Alfred flipped open his cell phone. "She texted me at like the last second to say that she couldn't come. Sorry."

Silently, Maddie reached into her bag and pulled out her phone as well. Sure enough, there was a little envelope flashing at her.

Arun looked more disappointed than she did. "Aw, man. I really wanted to compare your faces." He was momentarily distracted by Gillian marching by with Principal Hubbard. "Hey, Gill! That was hilarious! Next time you wanna crash something, count me in!"

Since she was obviously in trouble, Gillian couldn't reply – but she did smirk and shoot Arun a thumbs-up. Slinking along behind them, Arthur scowled.

Alfred regarded them thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll try out for the play next year."

"It's going to be a musical." Arun yawned and picked up his bag. "So you can count on pretty much everyone in the entire school to try out. Once again, I'm kind of glad I won't be around to deal with that ridiculousness."

"Hmm, a musical. Even better."

"You, in a musical?" Maddie had to giggle. "Are you serious?"

"Who knows! I could get a leading role!"

Past the laughing of her friends, Maddie spotted her parents waving and smiling in the distance. She waved back. Now that the reality had hit, she was perfectly fine with not seeing Evelyn that night. Perhaps even the fact that only her closest friends and family were here to celebrate this achievement was the proof that she didn't need to go back in time and fix anything to continue with her happy life. As sweet as she might have been, Evelyn wasn't exactly the greatest image of motherhood.

Alfred put his elbow on her shoulder again, engaged in a lively chat with HK. If anything, Maddie reflected, the best thing that had come out of this entire, crazy year was meeting him. Even in spite of their differences, he had been willing to drop everything and accept her as family. Automatically. His elbow dug sharply into her neck, but she didn't mind. Alfred was her brother and her best friend.

"No," HK was telling him. "We can't tell you what we're thinking of."

"Oh, come on! You know you're going to win the proposal anyway. Nobody else even applies for it!"

Maddie looked over again. Mr. Williams was pointing at his wrist. "Hey, Al. You need a ride home?"

He perked up. "Sure! See ya guys!"

They left the theatre together, shoulder to shoulder. The similarities were unmistakable to anyone who glanced over at the two. In the car, Maddie sat between both her brothers, though she chose to stay quiet, letting the rest of her family's lively chatter about the intentions for the actors' – and Gillian's – performances fill the gaps.

When Alfred was let off in front of his house, she was able to scoot over to the window. He was running towards the front door, hopping up the porch steps two at a time. Putting one hand on the doorknob, Alfred paused and turned around to wave.

Maddie waved back as the car pulled away.

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><p><strong>NA: **_**No Exit**_**, Pursued by a Bear! In all seriousness though, I've been wanting to do that for years. Just for kicks. Maybe not for an actual play, but a silly comedy sketch. Just see how we can insert a bear into as many dramatic scenes as possible. Who knows? It may be a hit.**

**Thank you everybody for reading, even in spite of my prolonged absences between chapters…I am quite grateful. Hope this was satisfying to you! Now that we are done, please review o3o (is it just me, or have there been less reviews in general? Not for just my stories, but others too)**


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